NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS

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

Wednesday, 15 March 2023

 

UN WATER CONFERENCE

You just heard a briefing on the 2023 UN Water Conference, so let me start there.

The President of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, sees this conference as possible game changer in how we approach water and how we approach sustainability.

He wants Member States and other partners to come with ambitious gamechanging commitments and actions.

He has been encouraging the international community to think in terms of integrating water and climate policies.

For him, just to give a couple of examples, that means a global water information system.

It also means an early warning initiative for everyone around the world.

The President sees the 2023 UN Water Conference as a major leap towards sustainable transformation… one that can give a blueprint for the implementation of the SDGs.

I will include the link to the Conference website with my notes: https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2023

CEO Roundtable

This afternoon… President Kőrösi will address the CEO Roundtable discussion on “A Gender Equal Future of Work in the Digital Age.”

He is expected to tell representatives of the business sector that women’s economic empowerment is a right not a privilege – and it’s also good business.

Studies show that the equal participation of women and men in the economy could add $28 trillion to global GDP.

The President will point to technology as a driver of transformational change in sustainable development… but also note that women within the tech sector are often “gender gapped” – which means underhired, underrepresented and underpaid.

As steps towards gender equality, the President will applaud the Women’s Empowerment Principles developed by UN-Women and the Global Compact… and the work of the Champions of Change Coalition.

Full remarks will be put out after delivery.

GA REVITALIZATION

Let me turn to GA Revitalization…

President Kőrösi is this hour in a meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly.

The focus is on strengthening the accountability, transparency and institutional memory of the OPGA.

The President highlights some of the achievements of the office.

Those include vigorously implementing transparency and accountability measures.

The President thanked donors who have shared $1.8 million US dollars with OPGA, that is the total of voluntary contributions to the OPGA Trust Fund for this session.

In terms of the Office itself, you might be interested to know that I and my female colleagues are in the majority.

Among the 42 OPGA members including the President, and the six Fellows, there are 16 men and 26 women. This OPGA is 62 per cent women.

In his remarks, the President highlighted the PGA selection and tenure.

I will put out the transcribed remarks this afternoon.

GA Revitalization is one of the 16 mandated processes of the General Assembly, led by co-chairs appointed by the President. Those are Ambassador Egriselda Aracely González López, Permanent Representative of El Salvador, and Ambassador Mitchell Fifield, Permanent Representative of Australia.

ISLAMOPHOBIA

Today is the first International Day to Combat Islamophobia.

As you heard the President say on Friday, Islamophobia is rooted in xenophobia and fear of the unfamiliar.

It is on us all to reverse this.

The President calls on everyone to celebrate diversity and protect the rights of minorities.

Related tweet https://twitter.com/UN_PGA/status/1635956845146677249

 

BILATERALS

In terms of bilaterals, the President met today with the WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros. They discussed the three health-related GA High-level meetings, which include Tuberculosis; Universal Health Coverage; Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response.

They also discussed collaboration on the science briefings of the General Assembly.

Later today, the President will meet with World Bank, Managing Director for Operations Axel van Trotsenburg.

TOMORROW

And looking to tomorrow…

At 10AM in the General Assembly Hall, there will be an informal plenary to hear from the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Noeleen Heyzer. The President met with the Special Envoy yesterday, in advance of the meeting.

You know that Ms. Heyzer is expected at the Security Council stakeout after the plenary meeting.

Also tomorrow, I will not brief tomorrow. But I will be back on Friday.

 

QUESTIONS

 

The Spokesperson was asked about the list of speakers at the opening of the UN Water Conference. The opening statements will be made by the Presidents of the Conference, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the General Assembly, the President of the Economic and Social Council, the Secretary-General of the Conference and the Chair of UN-Water. This is stipulated in the modalities resolution 75/212 (2020) on page 9 https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N20/381/39/PDF/N2038139.pdf?OpenElement .

 

The Spokesperson was asked about the list of participants. Given that OPGA is not organizing the Conference, the Spokesperson did not have any additional details past what was given by today’s guests.

 

The Spokesperson was asked for additional discussions between the President and Dr. Tedros on pandemic preparedness. She said that she would follow up.