NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS

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

Thursday, 2 March 2023

 

NAM/COVID

President Csaba Kőrösi is in Baku, Azerbaijan, where this morning he addressed the Summit-level meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement on post-COVID-19 recovery.

He spoke about the positive impact of NAM in catalysing the developing and production of COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines around the world.

But COVID-19 was just a window, a short glimpse into our future, the first of many similar challenges to come, the President said, adding that scientists predict about a 25% chance of another disease that will be at least as deadly and widespread as COVID within the coming decade.

Given these odds, we are now in a race against the clock to identify transformative solutions that will make our world safer, more equal, and more sustainable.

This is why we should embrace a “new normal” rooted in science, innovation, technology and digitalization.

The gradual taming of COVID has given an opportunity to direct pandemic recovery towards an environmentally sound and socially just transition.

The President also called for policies that enhance individual well-being, while also being inclusive of all.

He also made a push for the UN Water Conference in three weeks, saying that we have to transform from a water crisis to a water-secure world.

You have his full remarks in your inboxes and online: https://www.un.org/pga/77/2023/03/02/pga-address-to-the-summit-level-meeting-of-the-non-aligned-movement-on-post-covid-19-recovery/

 

BILATERALS

Among his bilaterals today, President Kőrösi met with President Ilham Aliyev. One of the topics discussed was the need for a global water information system. https://twitter.com/UN_PGA/status/1631249069590081537

The President also raised the water crisis and gamechangers in a meeting with the Minister of Energy, Mr. Parvis Shahbazov. https://twitter.com/UN_PGA/status/1631313416571998208

 

QATAR

President Kőrösi and the team will leave Baku tomorrow, for Qatar, where the President will take part in the official opening of the 5th Least Developed Countries conference or LDC5, among a packed agenda.

I will share a media advisory by tomorrow’s noon.

The President will be back in New York on Monday, 6 March.

 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

And I wanted to update you about a couple of additions to the General Assembly’s schedule of plenary meetings.

On Tuesday, 7 March at 10AM in the Trusteeship, there will be action on a draft resolution related to the annual theme of the 2024 session of ECOSOC and the high-level political forum in 2024. This is one of the 16 mandated processes, so I wanted to highlight that this is a process that is successfully wrapping up, under the direction of facilitator Ambassador Paula Narváez Ojeda, Permanent Representative of Chile.

On Tuesday, 28 March, starting at 10AM ET in the GA Hall will be a plenary meeting on the role of diamonds in fuelling conflict.

And on Tuesday, 25 April, starting at 10AM ET in the GA Hall, there will be plenary meeting to hear a briefing on the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to assist in the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for the most serious crimes under International Law committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011.

Those are the recently added items to the GA agenda – these are not all the items on the GA agenda.

 

QUESTIONS

The Spokesperson was asked, in the context of the ESS, whether President Kőrösi met privately with Member States who did not vote for the resolution to explain their reservations for future drafts. The Spokesperson said that the drafting and action on resolutions are Member State-driven processes, and do not involve the PGA – who represents all Member States of the General Assembly. As to whether the President had bilaterals with the specified Member States, the Spokesperson said she would check.