NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS

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

Thursday, 19 January 2023

 

ECOSOC ADDRESS

President Csaba Kőrösi today delivered remarks at a joint briefing with ECOSOC President Lachezara Stoeva.

President Kőrösi said he had laid out the grim picture of the global landscape in his Tuesday priorities address. How will we change this reality?

There is only one solution, he said, and we call it transformation. A complete overhaul of the way we approach and do things.

This approach is especially relevant for the Sustainable Development Goals, which we know are far off track.

But quote “this year is packed with opportunities for action”.

The President then outlined some of the events which were also raised on Tuesday – such as the SDG Summit and the Summit of the Future in 2024.

He also asked, what can we do now to change the implementation of the SDGs.

The President said that a pillar of his approach to crisis management is the involvement of science in the decision shaping processes of the General Assembly.

To this end, he will be holding scientific briefings on the 7th of February. I will have a media advisory for you ahead of those events, followed by a press release at the end.

Among other topics, the President said that this is year to really engage with young people.

He also spoke about gender.

This year’s priority theme for the Commission on the Status of Women is education in the digital age.

The President said that he is sure that full equality will only be attained if we include the digital revolution in our pursuit of women’s rights.

On the topic of Indigenous Peoples, he said that he would convene an informal dialogue on the enhanced participation of Indigenous Peoples in the General Assembly, in coordination with the meeting of the ECOSOC’s Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The President then turned back to the crises before us. He said that we live in a time of unprecedented and permanent humanitarian emergencies.

Quote “I urge you to put your political divergences aside and remember that we have a shared responsibility to hear the voice of those in need – and to help them.”

His full remarks are in your inbox and online: https://www.un.org/pga/77/2023/01/19/pga-remarks-at-joint-briefing-with-ecosoc-president/

 

LUNAR NEW YEAR

Lunar New Year is this weekend.

Last night the President took part in an event to mark the joyous occasion, organized by the Chinese Mission to the United Nations.

The President said that a we say good-bye to the roaring Tiger and greet the gentler Rabbit, he is optimistic that Member States will make progress on the General Assembly’s priorities of crisis management and transformation.

Related tweet: https://twitter.com/UN_PGA/status/1615932756424552449  

 

QUESTIONS

The Spokesperson was asked which Foreign Ministers the President was due to meet tomorrow. The Spokesperson confirmed that President Kőrösi will meet this Friday with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

WEBSITE

 

All briefings are online at https://www.un.org/pga/77/topic/spokespersons-briefings/