Transcript of the Press Briefing by the Spokesperson of the President of the UN General Assembly
11 February 2025
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s briefing
Good afternoon, everyone,
The President of the UN General Assembly Philemon Yang has just returned from an official visit to Japan and India.
63rd Session of the Commission for Social Development
Yesterday he delivered remarks at the 63rd Session of the Commission for Social Development where he said that this year’s Commission is a crucial milestone in our journey toward the Second World Summit for Social Development taking place in November where we will work towards inclusive social development by demonstrating what we have learned, assessing the gaps, promoting human dignity, and offering bold solutions that ensure socially equitable outcomes for future generations.
Intergovernmental consultations on the declaration for the 2025 UN Ocean Conference also continued yesterday.
Civil Society Town Hall
Tomorrow, Wednesday 12 February, there will be a Civil Society Town Hall with President Yang at 11 am. He will discuss his priorities and engage with civil society on the work of the UN General Assembly.
Thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women
H.E Mr. Mahmoud Daitallah Hmoud, Permanent Representative of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and H.E. Ms. Isabelle F. Picco, Permanent Representative of Monaco are the co-facilitators to conduct consultations to finalize the organizational arrangements for the High-level meeting to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women. The co-facilitators have convened the first informal meeting to present the zero-draft resolution on the scope, modalities and organization of the High-Level meeting tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the ECOSOC Chamber.
2025 Parliamentary Hearing
The 2025 Parliamentary Hearing takes place on Thursday 13th and Friday 14th February. This joint hearing, convened by the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, will examine ways to scale up action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and close the financing gap. This hearing takes place in the Trusteeship Council.
Modalities for the overall review by the General Assembly of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society
On the modalities for the overall review by the General Assembly of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, the co-facilitators on the intergovernmental consultations, H-E. Mr. Erastus ‘Lokaale, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya and H.E. Mr. Rytis Paulauskas, — Permanent Representative of the Republic of Lithuania will present the zero draft of the modalities on Friday, 14 February at 10 am in the ECOSOC Chamber.
The Week Ahead
As you know, the President appointed H.E Maritza Chan Valverde, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica and H.E Hector Jose Gomez Hernandez, Permanent Representative of Spain as co-facilitators to identify the terms of reference and modalities for the establishment and functioning of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance. The co-facilitators have invited all interested stakeholders to a virtual informal consultation on Tuesday 18 February from 10 am to 1 pm. Member States and Observers are invited as well to participate.
Next Thursday 20 February, the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly will have a thematic debate on the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General and other executive heads in the ECOSOC Chamber from 10 to 1 pm.
The President of the General Assembly Fellowship programme has begun.
The five Fellows from Belize, Libya, Nepal, Solomon Islands and Tanzania will work in the Office of the President of the General Assembly until the end of July [for six months. These participants are all Foreign Ministry officials in their respective capitals. The programme is generously funded by voluntary contributions from Member States.
Upcoming trips
The President will be travelling to Addis Ababa for the Opening ceremony of the 38th Ordinary Session of the African Union later this week. He will then go to Nairobi followed by Geneva. We will be providing more details on his travel shortly.
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