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

PGA ELECTION

In the General Assembly this morning…

Member States elected Ambassador Csaba Kőrösi of Hungary as the President of the 77th session of the General Assembly.

President-elect Kőrösi was elected by acclimation, meaning without a vote.

Reacting to the election, the current President, Abdulla Shahid, expressed his sincere congratulations and wished him and his team the very best.

 

VP ELECTION

The General Assembly also elected 16 new Vice-Presidents of the General Assembly for the 77th session, who will serve in their national capacity.

They include, by regional groups:

  1. From African States: Benin
  2. Burundi
  3. Kenya
  4. Mauritania
  5. Niger
  6. Zimbabwe

 

  1. From Asia-Pacific: Malaysia
  2. Nepal
  3. Tajikistan
  4. Turkmenistan
  5. Viet Nam

 

  1. From Latin America and the Caribbean: Chile
  2. El Salvador
  3. Jamaica

 

  1. From Western Europe and Other States: Australia
  2. Israel

You know that the in addition to these newly elected, the 5 permanent members of the Security Council are also Vice-Presidents of the General Assembly. For a total of 21.

 

SEATING

The Secretary-General will also draw lots to determine which Member States will occupy the first seat in the GA Hall during the 77th session.

For the 77th session, the delegation of Belize will occupy the first seat.

 

IMRF PROGRESS DECLARATION

This afternoon in the General Assembly, Member States will consider the IMRF Progress Declaration.

This is the draft that was approved by consensus at the International Migration Review Forum on 20 May.

 

ROAD SAFETY

Meanwhile, in the Trusteeship this afternoon, there will be an informal meeting with Member States to explore a way forward on the Road Safety political declaration.

The high-level event will start on 30 June.

 

WEDNESDAY

Tomorrow, starting at 10AM the General Assembly will convene a plenary meeting under the agenda item “Strengthening of the United Nations system.” This is the debate following the vetoes cast in the Security Council on 26 May under the agenda item “Non-proliferation/Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea.”

The list of speakers will be available this afternoon

Then in the afternoon on Wednesday, the General Assembly will hold a debate related to the protracted conflicts in GUAM – Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova.

 

BILATERALS

 

President Abdulla Shahid has a number of bilateral meetings today, which might interest you.

 

This afternoon, he will meet with Mr. Konstantinos Tsiaras, Minister of Justice of Greece

 

President Shahid will also meet with Ambassador Mr. Gabriel Ferrero, Chairperson of the Committee on World Food Security.

 

And with Ms. Jagjit Pavadia, President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

 

QUESTIONS

 

The Spokesperson was asked to share the List of Speakers for Wednesday’s plenary.

 

The Spokesperson was asked whether the position of Vice-President of the General Assembly is a new position. The Spokesperson said that no, the Vice-Presidents are seen throughout the session. Whenever President Shahid is not presiding over a General Assembly session, a Vice-President fills in.

 

The 21 VPs are elected according to the following pattern:

  1. a) Six representatives from African States;
  2. b) Five representatives from Asia-Pacific States;
  3. c) One representative from an Eastern European State;
  4. d) Three representatives from Latin American and Caribbean States;
  5. e) Two representatives from Western European or other States;
  6. f) Five representatives from the permanent members of the Security Council.