NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS
Spokesperson for General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi
United Nations Headquarters, New York
Friday, 1 September 2023
WATER CONFERENCE FOLLOW-UP
Let me start with the General Assembly.
This morning, Member States adopted by consensus a resolution on the follow-up to the UN Water Conference, known by its full name as the United Nations Conference on the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of the Objectives of the International Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018–2028.
I have a statement on that:
“The President of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi welcomes the adoption of the General Assembly resolution on the follow up of the UN 2023 Water Conference today.
This resolution is the foundation of the United Nations system-wide water and sanitation strategy, and the departure point for strengthened intergovernmental cooperation on water.
A prerequisite for sustainable development as clearly formulated during the Water Conference.
We cannot be aspirational enough in developing transformative, science-based water solutions for all, across sectors, borders and beliefs.”
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
There were seven additional draft resolutions up for action today.
Member States adopted by consensus a resolution on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly. President Kőrösi then led the applause for the co-facilitators of this process: Ambassador Egriselda Lopez, the Permanent Representative of El Salvador and Ambassador Mitch Fifield, the Permanent Representative of Australia.
Member States also adopted by consensus a draft resolution on the scope of the Summit of the Future. The President thanks his co-facilitators for that process: Ambassador Antje Leendertse, the Permanent Representative of Germany, and Ambassador Neville Melvin Gertze, the Permanent Representative of Namibia.
The other draft resolutions were on the topics of the:
- UN pledging conference for development activities
- Oceans and the law of the sea
- Model United Nations
- Cooperation between the United Nations and the Caribbean Community
- Cooperation between the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
SOUTH AFRICA
Let me draw your attention to the President’s comments on South Africa, which were put out on social media yesterday.
President Kőrösi said that his thoughts and prayers are with the people and the Government of South Africa following the horrific fire in Johannesburg.
He offered his sincere condolences to the families of the victims, and wishes for a speedy recovery for the injured.
And the President will likely relay these condolences directly to Ambassador Mathu Joyini, when he sees her this afternoon for a science-related discussion, alongside Ambassadors from Belgium, India and Serbia.
Related tweet: https://twitter.com/UN_PGA/status/1697451058442707346
VETO INITIATIVE
Turning to the Security Council…
As you know, a veto was cast by a permanent member on 30 August under the agenda item “The situation in Mali”.
In line with General Assembly resolution 76/262 entitled “standing mandate for a General Assembly debate when a veto is cast in the Security Council”… the President of the General Assembly shall convene within 10 working days a debate on the situation as to which the veto was cast.
Given that this extends past the time frame of the 77th session, the debate will be scheduled during the 78th session.
As a result, I don’t have a date for you.
OPGA78 SPOKESPERSON
But the person who will announce that date is the spokesperson for the President of the 78th Session.
The new spokesperson will be Dr. Monica Grayley, who many of you know from her high-profile positions at the UN, including as a former Spokesperson and the head of UN News Portuguese.
Her email address is grayley@un.org
100th PLENARY
Let me move on to Tuesday…
The final plenary of the 77th session will the 100th of the session.
That will be at 10AM ET in the GA Hall.
President Kőrösi will have remarks.
They will be about the lessons learned from the past year, and he will make the case that the United Nations – and especially the General Assembly – needs to evolve with the times, to better serve the 8 billion people who are looking to the UN for solutions.
I will try to share a copy of those remarks in advance, under embargo.
Following the plenary, there will be a flag ceremony.
With the flag of Hungary replaced by the flag of Trinidad and Tobago.
UNGA SPEAKERS LIST
I’ve been asked about the revised List of Speakers for UNGA.
Our colleagues in the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) are still working on the revised version. It may be available this afternoon.
Whenever it comes out, I will share it with you. [SPOKESPERSON HAS SINCE SHARED THE LIST, ALSO ATTACHED WITH THE NOTES]
In the meantime, I can offer the seating chart for the GA Hall of the 78th session – which just came out a few minutes ago.
QUESTIONS
The Spokesperson was asked what progress was made on the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform. The Spokesperson pointed to reforms that had been led by the co-chairs to enhance transparency, inclusivity and the institutional memory: parts of the meetings are now webcast on UN WebTV and a repository is being established for the process. This is meant to keep the conversations moving, so discussions don’t go backwards with the start of each session.
The Spokesperson was asked how President Kőrösi would want to be remembered this term, what legacy he would want to leave behind. The Spokesperson said that President Kőrösi is an extremely humble man. Any successes achieved this session, he has attributed to his team and to the Member States. He came in with a very clear vision that he wanted to make change, and for the General Assembly – the Member States – to be useful to the people who they represent, and to take action – not just give remarks and make promises. The President’s motto has been to find solutions through solidarity, sustainability and science. The last part is particularly prominent, as the President has brought in scientists and data into the policy-making discussion, inspiring Member States to create the Group of Friends on Science. That presence of science was also aimed at creating trust among Member States in a polarized world, which is seeing an increase in ideological stances and a less emphasis on multilateralism. The Spokesperson said that the President would likely want to be remembered as one where action was taken – where Member States began focusing on real priorities and working together to take action. The President has always said that having more than 180 priorities during a time of wars and climate change, is too many. He had encouraged Member States to streamline their priorities, and view them either as crisis management or longer-term sustainable development issue. The President has said that time will tell whether what has been implemented and started in this session has payoffs down the road. The Spokesperson summarized that the President would want to be remembered as someone who took action; who introduced science into the General Assembly; and as someone who got Member States talking to each other, as opposed to past each other.
THANK YOU
Working with you has been the greatest honor. I very much enjoyed working with all of you. While I never took it personally when you left before I briefed, I always took it personally when you stayed.
I have wonderful communications colleagues who are here for the briefing – Iseult Mc Nulty, speechwriter; Katherine Stephan, speechwriter; Steven Philip, multimedia producer responsible for most of what you see on our social media; and Alissa Collins who is not physically with us here. So thank you to all of you and to them.
President Kőrösi has been inspirational for me. His Chef de Cabinet Laszlo Szoke is absolutely wonderful. And in addition to being just wonderful visionaries, having integrity, they are also incredibly kind people. And that has trickled down through our office. And as the President always says, anything that has been accomplished during this General Assembly is really thanks to the team.
Thank you.
VIDEO
Today’s press briefing is available on UN WebTV: https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1q/k1q503vpnz.
