NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS
Spokesperson for General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi
United Nations Headquarters, New York
Friday, 17 February 2023
JAPAN
President Csaba Kőrösi today called on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
They had a 25-minute bilateral, where they touched on Security Council reform, the war in Ukraine, nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and other global issues of mutual interest.
Also today, the President met with Mr. Shinichi Kusano, from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Among other topics, they discussed the UN Water Conference.
The President also met with Ms. Yoko Kamikawa, who is a Member of House of Representatives, and will be the head of the Japanese delegation to the UN Water Conference.
The President then briefed the press on visit at the Japan National Press Club.
Tomorrow Japan time, the President will speak to the High-level Symposium on “Integrated Flood management in the post-COVID 19 era” at the 9th International Conference on Flood Management.
That will be webcast on UN WebTV at https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1r/k1rfdzpy40.
RESPONSIBLE TOURISM
The President is in Japan for an official visit, not as a personal tourist.
But I will use the trip to transition to today’s first-ever Global Tourism Resilience Day.
The General Assembly adopted a resolution earlier this month with the leading sponsor being Jamaica, in an effort to future-proof the sustainability of tourism.
The resolution emphasizes the need to foster resilient tourism development to deal with shocks, taking into account the vulnerability of the tourism sector to emergencies.
It is also a call for action for Member States to develop national strategies for rehabilitation after disruptions, including through private-public cooperation and the diversification of activities and products.
TURKIEY and SYRIA APPEAL
You would have seen that the President yesterday encouraged Member States to show solidarity with Türkiye and Syria, and support the flash appeals which came out in recent days.
Quote “Let us stand united with the 9.1 million people impacted,” the President said in a tweet. https://twitter.com/UN_PGA/status/1626340550596087815
NEXT WEEK
On Monday, 20 February, at 10AM ET, ASG Robert Piper, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Solutions to Internal Displacement, will brief in an informal meeting to the General Assembly in the Trusteeship Council. President Kőrösi will have remarks.
On Monday, 20 February, at 3PM ET the General Assembly will have its 59th plenary meeting.
Debate and action is expected on several draft resolutions. One is related to the Secretary-General’s report on New Partnership for Africa’s Development; the second to the Secretary-General’s report on Promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa; the there are draft resolution related to the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The topics to be discussed are available at https://journal.un.org/en/new-york/meeting/officials/ea9c21fb-febf-495d-9097-08db002de515/2023-02-20 .
On Tuesday, 21 February, at 10AM, President Kőrösi will address the opening of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, the C34.
He will then speak to civil society organizations in the Third Committee.
In the afternoon, at 3pm, in CR4 is the observance of Mother Language Day on the theme of “Multilingual education – a necessity to transform education.”
On Wednesday, 22 February, at 3PM ET, there will be the resumption of the Emergency Special Session. We expect a debate followed by action on a draft resolution. There will be a UNTV press stakeout.
The ESS could last into Thursday and potentially Friday. There will be a UNTV press stakeout throughout those days.
QUESTIONS
The Spokesperson was asked to clarify whether the ESS could run in parallel with the Security Council meeting on Ukraine. The Spokesperson said that the General Assembly is expected to be done with the topic before the Security Council meeting begins.
The Spokesperson was asked for any details in the conversations being held in Japan on Security Council reform. The Spokesperson said that there is an Intergovernmental Negotiations process underway on Security Council Reform. President Kőrösi had named co-facilitators to lead that process, making sure that it is transparent and inclusive. Japan is part of that process, as a Member State. The President has repeatedly said that it is not his place to impose a solution, but rather for Member States to come up with a proposal for the Security Council.
