NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS BY PAULINA KUBIAK GREER,
SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
United Nations Headquarters, New York

 

COTE D’IVOIRE TRIP

Good afternoon. There are a number of trips to announce today.

The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, will undertake an official visit to Cote d’Ivoire from 8 to 10 May to participate in the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) at the invitation of the Government of Cote d’Ivoire.

President Shahid will address the COP15 alongside Heads of State, environment ministers, private sector and civil society representatives, in the context of this year’s theme of “Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity”.

In his address, the President is expected to make the linkages between desertification, climate change and biodiversity loss.

These topics are of primary importance to President Shahid. Responding to the needs of the planet is one of the five pillars of his Presidency of Hope – along with vaccine equity, rebuilding sustainably, respecting the rights of all, and revitalizing the United Nations.

The conference takes place in the backdrop of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which was created by the General Assembly in resolution A/RES/73/284. ​

While in Cote d’Ivoire, the President of the General Assembly is expected to meet President Alassane Ouattara and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Kandia Camara.

He is also expected to have discussions with the Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development in Cote d’Ivoire, Mr. Jean-Luc Assi.

A supporter of youth-led efforts, President Shahid will participate in the COP-15 Youth Forum and meet with elected youth representatives to the conference.

The visit will also be an opportunity to see the work of the United Nations on the ground. President Shahid will meet with Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and (UNCCD) Executive Secretary, Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw. He will also visit the UN Country Team, led by UN Resident Coordinator in Cote d’Ivoire Mr. Philippe Poinsot.

The President will be traveling with a delegation of five members of his Office. The costs for the visit covered by the OPGA Trust Fund.

President Shahid will head from Cote d’Ivoire to Angola, and I’ll have more for you on that leg of the trip on Monday.

 

HOPE FELLOWS

Turning to the Fellowship for HOPE. Our communications team has two new HOPE Fellows that begin their rotate. Maggie Chikawa from Zimbabwe, and Jigme Wangmo from Bhutan. Maggie is here today to brief about an upcoming trip:

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. My name is Margaret Tatenda Chikawa and I am from Zimbabwe. I am part of the first cohort of PGA HOPE of Youth Fellows.

 My job today is to give you a short briefing on the fellows’ upcoming study visit to Europe. Firstly, we will visit will Brussels from 10 to 15 May, next Geneva from 15 to 21 May and finally Florence from 21 to 25 May. The EU will host us for the Brussels and Florence legs, and the Swiss Government will fund the Geneva leg of the trip.

 The Brussels part of the visit will be focused on meeting and interacting with officials from the European Commission and the European Parliament. The topics under discussion will range from EU’s relations with various regional groups; including the regions that the 8 fellows come from, to climate diplomacy, to the work of the European Parliamentary Research Service.

 During our time in Geneva, we’ll pay courtesy calls on the President of the Swiss Confederation Mr Ignazio Cassis, and the 65th PGA Joseph Deiss. Our other engagements will fall under a range of themes, including disarmament and diplomacy, and human security and humanitarian challenge.

 During our time in Florence, we will participate in lectures at the School of Transnational Governance which is part of the European University Institute. I’m most looking forward to the session on sustainable trade and the ACP.

 Overall, my colleagues and I are looking forward to this study visit. The immense value of this visit is in the chance to get practical insights from experts working in different fields of diplomacy, as well as gaining understanding of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ work of European diplomats before we see their work at the UN. For example, it will be interesting to see how the EU, a multilateral organization itself, organizes itself before engaging the UN.

 We will also visit a couple of museums and explore the cities a bit which, I have to be honest, accounts for a good chunk of my excitement about this trip.

 

BILATERALS

Turning to bilaterals that President Shahid has today.

The President is meeting with his predecessor from the 73rd session, Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa.

President Shahid is also meeting today with Anar Karimov, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan

This is the beginning of the month, so President Shahid will have his monthly meetings Secretary-General António Guterres… and separately, with the President of ECOSOC, Collen Vixen Kelapile.

 

NEXT WEEK

And looking to next week’s schedule in the GA:

On Tuesday, 10 May, at 10AM Eastern will be the election for the vacancy in the Human Rights Council. The Czech Republic is the only candidate right now.

Wednesday, 11 May, at 10AM Eastern, the plenary will consider a draft decision under the agenda item on the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba.

 

QUESTIONS

There were no questions for the Spokesperson.