NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS BY PAULINA KUBIAK GREER,
SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
United Nations Headquarters, New York
STOCKHOLM
Starting today off with a trip announcement.
The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, will travel to Sweden this week.
He will speak this Thursday at the opening of the international meeting entitled Stockholm+50.
The international conference takes place 50 years after the inaugural UN conference in Stockholm on the human environment. It aims to accelerate the transition to more sustainable societies.
The commemorative conference is convened by the United Nations and is hosted by Sweden with support from the Government of Kenya.
On Friday, 3 June, the President will host a special event, along with the Government of Sweden and the UN Foundation. The event is entitled “Achieving a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic: (Re)shaping economies that work for women”.
The event will highlight the disproportionate impact the Covid-19 pandemic has taken on women and the importance of recovery and resilience strategies that support gender equality.
The President will hold several bilateral meetings throughout his trip, including an audience with King Carl Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria. He will also visit the Parliament of Sweden, and meet with the Speaker of the Swedish Parliament Andreas Norlén.
You’ll have more details in a media advisory later today.
HOPE FELLOWS
And before I take your questions, let me introduce Jigme Wangmo, one of the HOPE Fellows. She will give you an overview of the Fellows’ study visit to Europe.
The PGA HOPE fellows completed their official visit to Europe last week. They started in Brussels and continued to Geneva and lastly to Florence. The trips were hosted and funded by the European Union and Swiss Government.
The substantive training sessions combined with courtesy calls on important figures, informal interactions and guided tour of places made the visit an enriching and memorable experience for the HOPE fellows.
In Brussels, they learnt about the work of the European Parliament, European Commission, Climate Diplomacy and EU relations with the fellow’s countries, among others. Fellows met Ms Eva KAILI, Vice President of the European Parliament and Mr Stelios MAKRIYIANNIS, Chair of the Council United Nations Working Party (CONUN), among other officials.
In Geneva, the Geneva Centre for Security Policy faciliated a training course specially tailored for the fellows, titled “International Geneva: Managing 21st Century Peace and Security Challenges.” Over the course of five days, fellows expanded their knowledge in mediation and peace, human rights mechanisms, global migration and refugee challenges, COVID response, disarmament and violent extremism. Fellows also had the privilege of paying a courtesy visit to Mr. Ignazio Cassis, Swiss President and Minister of Foreign Affairs and going on an excursion walk with Mr. Joseph Diess, former PGA and former Swiss President.
In Florence, fellows were introduced to transnational governance; its evolution and context in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, sustainable business and the European Climate Agenda.
After an enriching European tour, fellows are back at the headquarters resuming their programme.
QUESTIONS
The Spokesperson was asked about resolution A/77/L.52, whereby the General Assembly decided that its President shall convene a formal meeting of the 193 Member States within 10 days of the casting of a veto by one or more permanent members of the Council and hold a debate on the same situation. The questions were in the context of China and Russia vetoing a resolution in the Security Council on 26 May related to DPRK. The Spokesperson confirmed that the General Assembly would hold a plenary meeting on the issue on Wednesday, 8 June, at 10AM ET. The 193 Member States are expected to attend, but the Spokesperson was not in a position to confirm whether China or Russia would participate.
