NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS BY PAULINA KUBIAK GREER,
SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
United Nations Headquarters, New York
UKRAINE
The United Nations General Assembly today holds the High-level event on galvanizing momentum for Universal Vaccination.
Before I go into details on the event, let me turn to Ukraine.
President Abdulla Shahid started his opening address in the General Assembly this morning by reiterating that the use of force and coercion has no place in the 21st century.
He said quote “I call on all Member States to uphold their obligations under international law and international humanitarian law.
It is time for an immediate ceasefire, deescalation of tensions, exercise of maximum restraint and a firm return to diplomacy and dialogue.”
He noted that the vaccine equity event is taking place at a time when quote “fellow member state, Ukraine has been attacked. This military operation undermines global security and stability, and is inconsistent with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
VACCINE EQUITY
Turning now to the High-level event on galvanizing momentum for Universal Vaccination.
The aim of this event is to renew political commitment to achieve universal COVID vaccination.
There are 10 Heads of State or Government participating. In addition: two Vice-Presidents, three Deputy Prime Ministers, and 71 Ministers.
The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, opened the meeting saying: “Let me be clear: vaccine inequity is immoral, and it is impractical.”
More than 10 billion vaccine doses have been administered around the world as of mid-February. While this amount is enough to inoculate every person in the world, some 83 per cent of the population of the African Union has not received a single dose.
In the opening, you also heard from Secretary-General António Guterres.
Also from ECOSOC President Collen Vixen Kelapile, who said the international community had gathered today to launch a “tidal wave of actions” for vaccine equity.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia and Co-Chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic, reminded us that “pandemic tools are global public tools and not charity.”
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and the othe co-chair, Helen Clark, warned that the next pandemic threat could be just over the horizon, and that the world is no better prepared for it now that it was two years ago.
Dr. Tedros noted that we are at a critical junction – with an increased rise of squandering an opportunity to stop the pandemic.
High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet highlighted the importance of human rights at the centre of recovery efforts.
The opening session also included remarks from Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in his capacity as Co-Chair of the Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. And from Ted Chaiban, the new Global Lead Coordinator for COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery.
The event then split into two parts – the plenary and the panel discussions.
The morning panel discussion was moderated by Prince Zeid, who is the head of the International Peace Institute (IPI).
The panel started with a message from Melinda Gates French – who was hopeful that the world can get back on track and stressed the importance of institutions with a proven track record – like the UN umbrella – of distributing vaccines.
The panelists were: Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, WHO Chief Scientist; Dr. Nicole Lurie, Director of the Centre for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations in the US; Dr. Tonya Villafana, a Vice President at AstraZeneca; Mr. Kirill A. Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Director Investment Fund (RDIF); Dr. Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, Texas Children’s Hospital. Along with Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi, they have created a patent-free vaccine against COVID.
I don’t have speeches to share. Many of the speeches in the plenary are video messages. And then the panel discussions are off-the cuff.
All the speeches and the morning discussion are on UN WebTV.
FELLOWSHIP OF HOPE
And turning to the Fellowship of HOPE.
Today is Friday so our Fellows are in their weekly workshop with UNITAR.
The topic today is “Climate Change – Kyoto to Paris, with Professor
QUESTIONS
The Spokesperson was asked about the procedures for an Emergency Special Session in the General Assembly. She noted that such a session is convened by the Secretary-General in line with the rules of procedures, following a request from the Security Council or Member States. At this time we don’t have information that such a request has been put forward.
The Spokesperson was also asked if a resolution could be voted on in the General Assembly without holding a special session. The Spokesperson told the journalist by phone that the General Assembly would usually need about a week to publish and translate the draft into all six official languages.
