NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS

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

Monday, 21 August 2023

 

STOCKHOLM

The President of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, is in Sweden today for an official visit that started over the weekend.

Today, in the early afternoon local time, President Kőrösi participated in the opening ceremony of the World Water Week.

He spoke alongside Mr. Jonathan Forssell, who is the Minister of International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade. It was a conversation between the two of them on the topic of governance. This was one of four moderated panels as part of the opening.

They spoke to a packed room that included Government officials, civil society, scientists and academia, and UN representatives.

The President said that Quote: “our problem today is not the speed of implementation. Our problem is that we are running to a water crisis- and unless we change direction, we will face serious, serious challenges.”

The President offered five solutions for a water-wise world:

  • Appoint a UN Special Envoy on Water
  • Create a UN-wide water strategy
  • Build a platform for water cooperation for Member States
  • Focus on what needs to be fixed at the local, regional and global levels
  • Rethink the economics of water

The discussion was moderated by Ms. Arati Davis, who is the head of the Secretariat with the Sweden India transport Innovation Safety Partnership.

The conversation is part of the overall theme for 2023 World Water Week, which is “Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for Water-wise World.”

Related Tweet: https://twitter.com/UN_PGA/status/1693612450292338717

In terms of the mood at the World Water Week – it’s very busy. My colleague said there is a lot of excitement, a lot of people milling around and interacting throughout the parts of Stockholm where the team is.

The weather is beautiful – it’s very sunny today.

It’s again this backdrop that the President has been trying to listen and attend as many of the discussions as possible.

Right now, the President is at the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation in Uppsala.

He laid a wreath at the Secretary-General’s gravesite.

The wording on the ribbon is: “Your ideals remain our guide. With reverence, President of the 77th UNGA Csaba Kőrösi”

The President is now taking part in a discussion that is being held under Chatham House rules.

On of the questions in the discussion is – what could a changing role of the General Assembly be in the times of political polarisation? Another is, how can the General Assembly serve as a forum to advance transformative solutions to accelerate the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs?

Among the participants is Mr. Jan Eliasson, former Deputy Secretary-General and the President of the 60th session of the General Assembly.

Earlier today, President Kőrösi met with the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Tobias Billstrom.

The President said that he was very grateful to Sweden for its leading role in the realization of the 2030 Agenda and in fostering dialogue through multilateral diplomacy.

Related Tweet: https://twitter.com/UN_PGA/status/1693335646960586994

Yesterday, the President an interaction at the Stockholm Environment Institute.

He discussed bridging science and policy, improving global governance of sustainable development, and the practical implementation of the SDGs.

Quote “All researchers and scientists play a key role in the sustainability transformation.”

Related Tweet: https://twitter.com/UN_PGA/status/1693562304716034245

 

QUESTIONS

There were no questions for the Spokesperson.