PRESS BRIEFING
BY MONICA GRAYLEY,
SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY
PRESIDENT DENNIS FRANCIS
United Nations Headquarters, New York
15 May 2024
Good afternoon, everyone!
PGA SHOCKED OVER ATTACK AGAINST PRIME MINISTER OF SLOVAKIA
The President of the UN General Assembly, Mr. Dennis Francis, has expressed his deep shock and sadness after hearing about the attack against the Prime Minister of Slovakia, H.E., Mr. Robert Fico, a few hours ago.
According to media reports, Mr. Fico was shot “multiple times” following a meeting in the city of Handlova and was in life-threatening conditions.
The PGA says that his thoughts and prayers are with Prime Minister Fico and his family, the Government and the people of Slovakia.
He wishes the Prime Minister a full and speedy recovery.
GA HOLDS MULTI-STAKEHOLDER HEARING OF THE HL MEETING ON ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
The President of the General Assembly, Mr. Dennis Francis, is convening today the Multi-stakeholder Hearing of the High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
In his opening remarks, the PGA recalled that Antimicrobial Resistance represents a silent pandemic which kills nearly five million people every year.
If the matter is left unaddressed, the number of deaths can increase to up 10 million per year by 2050.
Antimicrobial Resistance affects disproportionately developing countries which lack financial resources and capacity to overcome the burden without support.
The World Bank estimates that AMR could result in US$ 1 trillion additional healthcare costs by 2050.
President Francis firmly believes in the importance of remedying the AMR response which “will strengthen sustainable health and agri-food systems, improve surveillance and monitoring, and enhance environmental interventions such as waste and wastewater management, all while promoting responsible antimicrobial use.”
The event in the Trusteeship Council Chamber includes three discussion panels.
The first on sustainable financing of and investments in the AMR response to support country-level implementation; the second on addressing antimicrobial access, research and development, and innovation; and the final one to begin at 3 pm on effective governance, leadership, and coordination of the AMR response at the national, regional and global levels.
The multi-stakeholder hearing is co-organized by the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Organization for Animal Health.
The multi-stakeholder hearing is taking place ahead of the High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance, which is scheduled for 26 September, under the theme: “Investing in the present and securing our future together: Accelerating multi-sectoral global, regional and national actions to address Antimicrobial Resistance”.
GA TO CONSIDER DRAFT RESOLUTION ON INTERNATIONAL DAY
Many of you have been asking us about a GA meeting to consider a draft resolution entitled “The International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica”.
The 82nd plenary meeting will take place on 23 May from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the GA Hall, under the agenda, the Culture of peace – Item 14: Draft resolution (A/78/L.67) and it will be webcast.
You can find more information on the General Assembly website: www.un.org/ga
Tomorrow, we will not be here but please keep an eye on your mailbox as we will have a trip announcement for you.
For now, this is everything we have.
Do you have anything else?
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