NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS BY PAULINA KUBIAK GREER,
SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
United Nations Headquarters, New York
MANDELA COMMEMORATION
Today is the annual General Assembly commemoration of Nelson Mandela International Day.
This was the first time since 2019 that the commemorative event and this afternoon’s community service event are held in-person.
Every five years, commencing in 2015, an honorary award is presented as a tribute to the outstanding achievements and contributions of two laureates.
The Prize aims to recognize the achievements of those who dedicated their lives to the service of humanity as guided by the purposes and principles of the United Nations, while honouring and paying homage to Mr. Mandela’s extraordinary life and legacy of reconciliation, political transition and social transformation.
The 2020 Laureates who delivered remarks at this year’s event were Mrs. Marianna V. Vardinoyannis of Greece (virtually) and Dr. Morissanda Kouyaté of Guinea.
In his opening remarks, the President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, focused on one of the themes for this year’s commemoration – the power of youth.
President Shahid noted that despite today’s “challenges and obstacles, we must persevere with conviction, with determination and with hope. This is what Madiba would have wanted, what he himself fought for.
To fully honor him today, we must channel his perseverance.”
And he quoted Mr. Mandela – “Young people are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom”.
The keynote address was presented by The Duke of Sussex.
Also taking part today were Dr. Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. And New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The event was organized by President Shahid’s office, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and the Department of Global Communications.
MANDELA COMMUNITY SERVICE
Nelson Mandela International Day is also marked with a community service event in which all UN delegates and staff are invited to pay tribute to his memory.
This year’s community service event will be planting, weeding, painting, and food packaging at Thomas Jefferson Park in Harlem.
That starts today at 1PM.
FOOD SECURITY
This afternoon is the meeting on the global food crisis, in partnership with the Committee on Food Security.
As you know, hunger and malnutrition are on the rise, with nearly a billion people going hungry in 2021. This is due to the COVID pandemic, climate change and ongoing conflict – which have led to disrupted supply chains and inflation.
That’s according to the latest Report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, which came out earlier this month.
The World Bank warns us that the conflict in Ukraine will plunge an additional 95 million people into extreme poverty, and 50 million into severe hunger, this year.
To try to solve food security, President Shahid is expected this afternoon to call for urgent action.
This includes scaling up climate resilience across food systems, repairing our relationship with nature, and securing sustainable agriculture; and strengthening the global institutions working to alleviate poverty and hunger.
Also addressing the event will be Ambassador Gabriel Ferrero Y De Loma-Osorio, Chairperson of the Committee on World Food Security.
And Secretary-General António Guterres.
The event complements the work of the Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance, launched by the Secretary-General.
