PRESS BRIEFING
BY MONICA GRAYLEY,
SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY
PRESIDENT DENNIS FRANCIS
United Nations Headquarters, New York
7 December 2023
Video: https://tinyurl.com/zkt55t3y
Good afternoon, everyone!
PRESIDENT FRANCIS WILL TRAVEL TO QATAR TO TAKE PART IN THE DOHA FORUM
The President of the General Assembly, H.E., Mr. Dennis Francis, will undertake an official visit to the State of Qatar from 9 to 11 December.
The PGA will take part in the Doha Forum 2023 under the theme* “What now for Palestine”.
President Francis will hold separate bilateral meetings with His Highness Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar and H.E., Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
On Sunday, President Francis will deliver a statement at the Opening Panel of the Doha Forum.
In the afternoon, the PGA will deliver the lecture “Navigating a New Era: Revitalizing Multilateralism for Global Challenges” to students at Qatar University.
Whilst in Doha, Mr. Francis will visit the UN House before he returns to New York on Monday morning.
The PGA will depart from New York on Friday morning. He is being accompanied by two political advisers as well as a communications adviser.
Travel costs are being covered by the OPGA’s regular budget and by the State of Qatar.
We will send you updates as soon as President Francis arrives to Doha.
PGA DEEPLY CONCERNED WITH POLITICAL TENSION IN GUINEA-BISSAU
President Francis has issued a post on his X social media account stating that he is deeply concerned about the political situation in Guinea-Bissau and the latest wave of violence by national forces.
Following the dissolution of the country’s Parliament and reports of threats and intimidation, the PGA is appealing for calm and the resumption of dialogue.
Mr. Francis said that all parties have to restrain from the use of force, and promote the constitutional order, peace and stability.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS RESOLUTIONS OF FOURTH AND SIX COMMITTEES
The PGA has presided over the 45th plenary meeting on the reports of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) and the Sixth Committee (Legal).
The General Assembly took action on several items of the agenda including assistance in mine action, effects of atomic radiation, economic and other activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories, revitalization of the work of the General Assembly among other draft resolutions.
More information on our website: www.un.org/ga and in the UN Journal.
WORLD SOIL DAY
As we speak, the PGA is about to take part in the event to celebrate World Soil Day, which is marked by the United Nations every 5 December.
President Francis will deliver opening remarks at the invitation of the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the UN. This year, the theme is “Soil and Water: a source of life” and aims to highlight the importance of and relationship between soil and water in achieving sustainable and resilient agrifood systems.
Currently, 33% of soils are degraded, and the regeneration of eroded soil can be an arduous process, requiring up to 1,000 years to produce a mere 2-3 cm of replenished earth.
For the PGA, it is also crucial to leverage modern technologies to bolster disaster resilience, including through hydrometeorological monitoring and forecasting systems.
GA AND ECOSOC JOINT EVENT ON LANDLOCKED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
This afternoon, at 3pm, the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will hold a joint thematic event on Landlocked Developing Countries, LLDCs.
The meeting is convened by PGA Dennis Francis and the President of the ECOSOC, H.E., Ms. Paula Narváez.
This joint event is being held under the theme “Road to Kigali: New Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries as an Accelerator of the Implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.”
The discussions will provide input to the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries, which is scheduled for June 2024 in Rwanda.
This is everything from us and for this week.
Do you have anything else?
*Previous theme for the Doha Forum 2023 was “Building Shared Futures”.
END.
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