PRESS BRIEFING
BY MONICA GRAYLEY,
SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY
PRESIDENT DENNIS FRANCIS
United Nations Headquarters, New York
12 December 2023
Video: http://tinyurl.com/4fzmbrr3
Good afternoon, everyone!
PRESIDENT FRANCIS CONVENES EMERGENCY SPECIAL SESSION ON MIDDLE EAST
The General Assembly will hold the 45th plenary meeting of the tenth emergency special session (ESS) of the GA at 3 pm. today.
President Dennis Francis will chair the meeting at the GA Hall. As of this morning, there were at least 80 speakers inscribed on the list. Member States will announce, at the start of the ESS, what action will be taken.
On Sunday afternoon, the PGA informed Member States that his decision to convene the meeting followed a letter by the Permanent Representative of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E., Mr. Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud, and the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, H.E. Mr. Sidi Mohamed Laghdaf.
The Permanent Representatives wrote in their respective capacities as Chair of the Arab Group and Chair of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, requesting the resumption of the tenth emergency special session.
The PGA stressed that the resumption of the ESS is in accordance with resolution ES-10/21 of 27 October 2023.
Yesterday, 11 December, the PGA additionally received a letter from the Permanent Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Republic of Maldives, the Republic of Namibia, the Republic of South Africa, Thailand, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Chargé d’Affaires of Malaysia and Türkiye, supporting the request for the resumption of the ESS.
The meeting will be webcast by UN WebTV. The List of Speakers is also online as well as amendments of Austria and the USA and the draft resolution, which will be introduced by the Arab Republic of Egypt. www.un.org/ga
PGA HOLDS TOWNHALL EVENT WITH CIVIL SOCIETY
This morning, President Francis held a Townhall on Priorities for the current session of the UN General Assembly and Meaningful Civil Society Engagement. In a hybrid event, which took place at the Headquarters and online, the PGA spoke to hundreds of representatives.
The PGA believes that: “Because the reality is that Member States alone cannot resolve the challenges we face; we need the voices of civil society, we need the private sector, we need academia and youth. We need everyone, full stop.”
President Francis took questions from participants, exchanged ideas and heard proposals to facilitate the engagement of civil society in the work of the General Assembly, contributing to the theme of UNGA78 “Rebuilding trust and reigniting solidarity: Accelerating Action on the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs towards Peace, Prosperity, Progress & Sustainability for all”.
The townhall meeting was followed by a segment led by the Department of Global Communications on planning for the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference, which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, in May 2024. (9-10 May)
INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATIONS ON SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM
Tomorrow, the first informal meeting of the plenary on “the intergovernmental negotiations (IGN) on the question of equitable representation on the increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Council” will be held at this current session.
The meeting will start on 13 December and conclude on Thursday in the Trusteeship Council Chamber. The IGN Co-Chairs are H.E Mr. Alexander Marschik, Permanent Representative of Austria, and H.E Mr. Tareq M.A.M Albanai, Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait.
In a letter, President Francis urged all Member States to support the Co-Chairs to ensure the IGN moves forward to the crucial process for UN reform and he highlighted the GA preparations for the Summit of the Future in September 2024.
This is everything we have for today.
Do you have anything else or any questions here or on-line?
END.
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