NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS

Spokesperson for General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi
United Nations Headquarters, New York

Thursday, 1 December 2022

Stephane will be out momentarily.

At 12:30PM, you will hear from Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, the President of the Security Council for the month of December and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations.

 

SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

The General Assembly this morning adopted by consensus a resolution on sport for development and peace.

In his opening remarks, before the debate, President Csaba Kőrösi noted that athletes – men and women alike – are among the most powerful and influential people in the world.

He said that if we want to make change in the world, we must include sports and athletes in our work.

He encouraged all Member states to preserve the unifying spirit of sports and the Olympic movement.

Quote: It is far more promising to the world if nations compete on the fields of sports than on the battle fields. The former makes us more nobel and stronger, the latter leaves death and devastation behind.

The President said that as we are living in a volatile world with deep divisions, sport and its organizations should remain inclusive.

We should not forget that it is much more desirable to end armed conflicts than to end cooperation.

The President’s full remarks are in your inboxes and online: https://www.un.org/pga/77/2022/12/01/pga-remarks-at-the-general-assembly-plenary-on-sport-for-development-and-peace/

Currently, it is Ambassador Mitch Fifield, the Permament Representative of Australia and a Vice-President of the General Assembly, who is overseeing the General Assembly.

 

MOMENT OF SILENCE

Before the proceedings, President Kőrösi invited Member States to join a moment of silence in memory of former president Jiang Zemin.

He also requested the representative of China to convey the General Assembly’s condolences to the Government and people of China, and to the bereaved family.

Related tweet: https://twitter.com/UN_PGA/status/1598345792237993984

 

WORLD AIDS DAY

Today is World AIDS Day.

You have the President’s message for the Day, where he says that inequalities, discrimination and disregard for human rights are hampering our progress on ending AIDS.

He joins the call to Equalize, to take urgent measures to end inequalities that make people vulnerable to infection, and also to help equalize access to treatment.

In addition, I wanted to highlight that in his remarks to the General Assembly today, the President calls for combatting stigma, such as those faced by people with HIV or AIDS.

PGA’s World AIDS Day message: https://www.un.org/pga/77/2022/11/30/world-aids-day-message/

 

GENERAL COMMITTEE

This afternoon, President Kőrösi will convene the second informal meeting of the General Committee.

The General Committee of the General Assembly includes all the General Assembly Vice-Presidents and the Committee Chairs. All the Co-facilitators appointed by PGA have also been invited.

 

COMMITTEE ACTIONS

Speaking of the Committees, I’ve been getting questions about when resolutions acted on in the Committees will be put up for action in the General Assembly.

Reports of the First Committee will be taken up on Wednesday, 7 December, at 10AM ET.

Reports of the Sixth Committee will be take up that afternoon, so 7 December at 3PM.

I’ll announce the dates for the remaining committees, when I have them.

 

BILATERALS

In terms of today’s bilaterals, the President met with Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies of Singapore.

He will speak later today with senior representatives from the International Organization of Employwers. Those are IOE Secretary General, Roberto Suarez-Santos and Ms. Shea Gopaul, IOE Permanent Representative to the UN.

 

TOMORROW

Tomorrow, President Kőrösi will hold a town hall with civil society representatives to discuss his priorities for the 77th session – under the slogan solutions through solidarity, sustainability and science.

This Town Hall is supported by the Department of Global Communications, with additional support by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and DGACM, the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management.

Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, Melissa Fleming, will moderate.

The Town Hall will take place from 10am until noon in the Trusteeship.

Before the Town Hall, the President will hold the next in his Morning Dialogue series. Tomorrow’s theme is “transformation for a more sustainable world.”

And in the evening, President Kőrösi will be the guest of honor at Carnegie Hall, where the Oberlin Orchestra and the Conservatory Choral Ensembles will pay tribute to the 77th session of the General Assembly, and its efforts to address global challenges and its commitment to building a more sustainable and resilient world. The concert is organized by the UN Institute for Training and Research – or UNITAR – in collaboration with Member States.

 

QUESTIONS

The Spokesperson was asked what will happen when the Committee reports head to the General Assembly. The Spokesperson clarified that this refers to the draft resolutions that the Committees took action on. In the General Assembly, the entire body will take action.