NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS

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

Tuesday, 11 April 2023

RIGHTS OF PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

Just in the past hour, President Csaba Kőrösi met with the Bureau of the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

The Bureau is composed of the Chair of the Committee – Ambassador Cheikh Niang, Permanent Representative of Senegal and four Vice-Chairs – the Permanent Representatives of Cuba, Indonesia, Namibia and Nicaragua.

Palestine is an observer to the Committee, and Ambassador Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, was in attendance.

The meeting ran longer than the scheduled 30 minutes.

This was an opportunity to compare notes on recent developments in the Middle East… to discuss ongoing work of the General Assembly related to the rights of the Palestinian people, and upcoming events.

There are three items that I wanted to share with you.

One thing that President Kőrösi said is that he was assigned the Palestinian file some 40 years ago when he worked in the Hungarian Ministry and he can’t believe that 40 years later, he in this room, discussing the lack of progress on this topic.

The second item is related to the UN Water Conference, which as you know is one of the key issues for the President this term.

He said that he went through the Water Action Agenda – and there are only two pledges related to Palestine. Of which only one has concrete steps.

He specifically said that Gaza needs more support for safe drinking water and sanitation.

Of the topics discussed, the third that I wanted to mention to you is about the International Court of Justice advisory opinion. The President said that he expects this to be a long process that will continue past his term, and that whatever the outcome is decided by the ICJ, that he hopes it will include accountability.

 

QUESTIONS

The Spokesperson was asked if the President provided any analysis for the lack of progress on the rights of the Palestinians. The Spokesperson said the President made the comment as part of a personal reflection, and she would leave the analysis to the journalist.

 

SCIENCE BRIEFING

On Wednesday, 12 April, is the Second Science Briefing. This will be an all-day event in the Trusteeship.

President Kőrösi will give opening remarks. There will then be three panels:

  • “Beyond GDP: How we measure matters”
  • “Food Security and Sustainability Transformation”
  • “Scientific Support System at the UN: A new science-based ‘normal’”?

More information about the Science Briefings is available at https://www.un.org/pga/77/science-briefings/

UN WEBTV LINK 

https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1s/k1s6rx1tcv