NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS
Spokesperson for General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi
United Nations Headquarters, New York
Monday, 1 May 2023
JORDAN
The President of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi is in Jordan.
His first stop in Jordan was the Zaatari refugee camp, which houses some 80,000 refugees from Syria.
I spoke to the President in the past hour and he said the visit was “very moving”.
He said the conditions are very modest, but he was very encouraged by the people he met, especially the young people.
The President said that he could see a lot of effort from the Government of Jordan, as well as UN agencies, to keep that hope alive.
We will share more information, including videos and photos, on the President’s social media accounts.
BAHRAIN
Over the weekend, the President was in Bahrain, where he had a number of high-level meetings.
Among them, he was received by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa.
The President commended King Hamad for Bahrain’s transformative and forward thinking leadership on sustainability, mediation, women’s empowerment, and the coexistence in the region.
Yesterday, the President walked down the “coestinace road” in Manama, and witnessed a Mosque, Ma’atam, Hindu Temple, & Jewish Synagogue stand side by side in harmony.
GENDER CAMPAIGN
Today is May Day.
As such, in the spirit of creating a safe work environment, President Kőrösi is joining with UN Women on a campaign to rid UN work spaces of sexual harassment.
You might recall that President Kőrösi is an International Gender Champion.
As one of his goals as Champion, he has made the UN training on gender and prevention of sexual harassment broadly available.
Launching today, is a campaign to encourage staff at Permanent Missions to complete the UN trainings on gender and the prevention of sexual harassment.
The President has a social media message on it saying that he invites “Permanent Missions to join a pledge to complete UN training courses on gender equality and the prevention of sexual harassment.”
Quote “We have to lead by example @UN if we are to achieve gender equality around the world by 2030.” https://twitter.com/UN_PGA/status/1653055610693222400
UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous has also tweeted supporting the initiative: https://twitter.com/unwomenchief/status/1653049524938473473
You will likely see many other leaders from the wider UN community and the Permanent Missions showing their support and hopefully carrying this forward.
This phase of the campaign runs until the end of June.
MONTH AHEAD
Let me highlight some of the key events that will be happening this month, related to official events in the General Assembly and the President’s schedule.
Starting on Monday, 8 May and Tuesday, 9 May, in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, there will be interactive multistakeholder hearings on the upcoming high-level health-related meetings.
On 8 May at 3PM, there will be an opening segment for the hearing on the Fight against Tuberculosis. Participating will be the President of the General Assembly Kőrösi, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, and Dr. Tedros, the Director-General of WHO.
There will then be panel discussions.
The closing segment will hear from the two General Assembly co-facilitators who are working on the high-level meeting on Tuberculosis – that’s Ambassador Bakhtiyor Ibragimov, Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the UN, and Ambassador Krzysztof Szczerski, Permanent Representative of Poland to the UN. The third speakers will be Ms. Maurine Murenga, TB/HIV survivor, Coordinator of TB Women.
Then Tuesday at 10AM, will be the multistakeholder hearing on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
Participating will be the President of the General Assembly Kőrösi, Director-General of WHO, Dr. Tedros, and Ms. Joy Phumaphi, the Co-Chair of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board.
Then there will be panel discussions.
The closing will be by the two GA co-facilitators for the high=level meeting this September. Ambassadodr Gilad Erdan, Permanent Representative of Israel and Ambassador Omar Hilale, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco.
Tuesday at 3PM, the multistakaholder on Universal Health Coverage.
The opening will the President of the General Assembly Csaba Kőrösi, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Dr. Tedros, the Director-General of WHO, and Ms. Gabriela Cuevas Barron, the Co-Chair of the UNHC2030 Steering Committee.
The opening segment will be followed by panel discussions.And the closing segment will be the two GA co-facilitators working on this high-level meeting in September: Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations and Ambassador Suriya Chindawongse, Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations.
Thursday, 11 May, in the Trusteeship Council Chamber…
There will be an informal dialogue on Middle Income Countries.
The theme is “Accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in middle-income countries, with a focus on the environmental dimension”.
The aim is to take stock of the gaps and challenges of middle-income countries in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and promote implementation of the SDGs through practical, evidence- and science-based solutions.
The event will be in-person and webcast on UN WebTV.
Friday, 12 May, in the Trusteeship Council Chamber…
There will be the interactive dialogue with the candidate for the Presidency of the 78th session.
This will be held ahead of the election of the new President on 1 June.
Wednesday 16 May, in the General Assembly Hall…
There will be a plenary meeting (debate) on the “Zone of peace, trust and cooperation of Central Asia”.
Thursday, 18 May and Friday, 19 May, in the General Assembly Hall…
There will be a high-level meeting on the midterm review of the Sendai Framework.
The theme is “Working Together to Reduce Risk for a Resilient Future”
There will be an opening segment on Thursday from 10 until 11AM ET, then plenary discussions.
Friday will be multistakeholder panels and a closing segment.
I will share the detailed plan with you, once confirmed.
Wednesday, 24 May…
We are planning a special event on the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development.
This International Year was proclaimed by the General Assembly in December 2021.
The International Year will include hundreds of national and international events, starting with this opening event, which is going to be organized on the theme of “A change for society to build on sciences for sustainability.”
MORNING DIALOGUES
The President will also hold two Morning Dialogues – these are the small discussions with Member States under Chatham House rules.
One on 12 May, on the theme of rights and responsibilities in a world in crises.
The other on 30 May, on the theme of “How to renew trust in delivering on the SDGs”?
INFORMAL CONSULTATIONS and INFORMAL MEETINGS
The General Assembly will also hold informal consultations and informal meetings. For a list of those meetings, please see https://www.un.org/en/ga/info/meetings/77schedule.shtml.
QUESTIONS
The Spokesperson was asked why she didn’t include the 75th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba on 15 May in her monthly overview. The Spokesperson said her overview includes official General Assembly meeting and events organized by the President of the General Assembly. The special event is organized by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) and the Observer Mission of Palestine, for 15 May from 6 to 8PM ET.
