NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS
Spokesperson for General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi
United Nations Headquarters, New York
Wednesday, 17 May 2023
BLACK SEA GRAIN INITIATIVE
Let me start off with a reaction to the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The President of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, commends the tireless efforts of Türkiye, the Secretary-General as well as the exemplary work of the Joint Coordination Centre and its staff.
The President reiterates his plea for a return to the negotiating table and for an end to this war, in line with international law and the UN Charter.
DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
You just heard from SRSG Mami Mizutori, about the High-level Meeting on the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The mid-term review is convened by President Kőrösi and organized in cooperation with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The President will have remarks to tomorrow’s opening.
As part of the opening segment, Member States are expected to adopt the political declaration of the Midterm Review.
The President will also give remarks in Friday’s closing segment – as well as participate in related events throughout the two days.
In terms of the speakers, there is a long list of delegations inscribed on the List of Speakers in the Plenary. To accommodate more speakers, the afternoon plenary meeting tomorrow will be extended past the usual 6PM end time until 9PM. So it will run 3pm to 9pm.
The program is available at https://www.un.org/pga/77/2023/05/11/letter-from-the-president-of-the-general-assembly-drr-hlm-programme-information-note/
UTAH
Turning to the President’s trip to Utah.
One of the reasons that the President went out to western Untied States is to raise support for the water gamechangers.
As you know that part of the country is facing water shortages.
The President was briefed by the Utah Department of Natural Resources about the Colorado River and the Great Salt Lake, he also met with Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson.
The President said that the challenges faced in Utah are similar to those that is seeing in other parts of the world.
There is a water crisis ignited by climate change and unsustainable water usage.
The President asked the Lieutenant Governor’s support for a global water information system created as part of the UN system. This is one of the game changers that came out of the UN Water Conference.
If you want more information on the gamechangers, they are part of the President’s summary of the UN Water Conference, that is available online: https://www.un.org/pga/77/wp-content/uploads/sites/105/2023/05/PGA77-Summary-for-Water-Conference-2023.pdf
While in Utah, the President gave a lecture at Utah Valley University, and he also had a number of conversations with students, many of them non-traditional students, about sustainability and the UN’s work. He also had conversations about social inclusion, particularly with communities that are in rural mountain communities.
One of those students is Alitha Thompson, the President of the Utah International Mountain Forum.
Alitha wrote the President a letter before he left.
And I wanted to read this section, with her permission:
“I have a lot of hope in our rising/future leaders. There is a lot of heart in the leaders of the UN, in our current students + in our children. I believe + hope that one day, everyone will feel heard + will work, hand-in-hand to make the philosophy behind the SDGs a reality.”
BILATERALS
In terms of his bilaterals today, the President met virtually with the Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed.
He also met virtually this morning with Dr Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
He also met with Uza. Mariya Ahmed Didi, the Minister of Defense in the Maldives.
The President also today is meeting with Minister Raed Arafat, State Secretary and Head of Department for Emergency Situations, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Romania.
Among his other meetings, the President is meeting with the new Permanent Representative of Malaysia, Ambassador Ahmad Faisal Muhamad.
GENDER CAMPAIGN
And we wanted to highlight an additional Member State who has signed on to the President’s campaign to support gender equality since last we met.
Staff at the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria have pledged to complete the UN training on promoting gender equality and preventing sexual harassment.
That brings the total to 27 Missions, including the EU delegation.
QUESTIONS
The Spokesperson was asked for a reaction to South Africa’s announcement of potential peace discussions between Russia and Ukraine, and whether President Kőrösi had been contacted.
The Spokesperson said that to her knowledge, the President had not been contacted. The President welcomes any efforts to bring an end to the war, in line with the UN Charter and international law.
The Spokesperson was asked for the President’s reaction to a petition brought in by a journalist on behalf of some migrant women calling for an end to 24-hour workdays. The Spokesperson referred the journalist and the petition to the OHCHR office.
