Transcript of the Press Briefing by the Spokesperson of the President of the UN General Assembly

(6 May 2025)

 

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s briefing. 

 

Good afternoon, everyone 

  • On World Press Freedom Day, last Saturday 3 May, the President of the UN General Assembly H.E. Mr. Philemon Yang together with the Presidents of UNESCO, ECOSOC and the Human Rights Council  issued a Joint Statement calling on all Member States and relevant stakeholders to renew their commitment to the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and to work together to address both the challenges and opportunities posed by new and emerging technologies.  
  • Also, you may already know this – UNESCO has organized an event tomorrow in Brussels to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, under the theme “Reporting in the Brave New World: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Press Freedom and the Media”. President Yang will have video remarks.  
  • In terms of the Main Committees of the General Assembly, the second resumed session of the Fifth Committee began yesterday and is expected to run until 30 May. The session will focus on the budget for peacekeeping operations as well as the report of the Secretary-General on the financial situation of the United Nations.  

 Meetings this week

  • Tomorrow, there is a Special solemn meeting in commemoration of all victims of the Second World War in the General Assembly Hall. 
  • There will be also a joint informal interactive dialogue of the General Assembly and the Security Council with the Peacebuilding Commission on the 2025 Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture. This takes place on 8 May.  
  • Also on the 8 May, a High-Level meeting to exchange views and share experiences on the recommendations included in decision 14/1 of the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing takes place.  
  • And then informal consultations on the “World Social Summit” in 2025 takes place on 9 May.  

 Meetings next week

  • An Informal meeting of the plenary to hear a briefing by the Secretary-General on the UN80 Initiative will be held on 12 May from 11 am to 1 pm in the Trusteeship Council.  
  • Now a focus on one of the President’s priorities. Approximately 160 million children worldwide are still engaged in child labour. One of the priorities of the President is drawing attention to the urgent need to eliminate child labour. To this end, the President will convene another of his signature events, this time, an Informal interactive dialogue titled “Childhood with Dignity: Eliminating child labour in all its forms, including forced recruitment and use of children in armed conflict”. This takes place on 13 May at 10 am in the Trusteeship Council. 
  • In terms of upcoming elections, the vision statement of H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock, the candidate for the position of President of the 80th session of the General Assembly, was shared last Friday. At the informal interactive dialogue that takes place on 15 May at 10 am in the Trusteeship Council, she will first present her Vision Statement, which will be followed by a question-and-answer session.  
  • Finally, there will be informal consultations on the “World Social Summit” again on 16 May.  

 Announcements

  • The next meeting of the Advisory Board on Gender Equality takes place on 14 May. As you know, the Advisory Board was re-established by the President to provide advice on ways to integrate gender equality into the work of the General Assembly. The theme for this meeting will focus on Addressing barriers to women’s economic empowerment by promoting safe workplaces, including addressing technology-facilitated harassment and violence. 

Appointments

  • The President has appointed Her Excellency Ms. Maria Michail, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cyprus to the UN and His Excellency. Mr. Jonibek Ismoil Hikmat, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Tajikistan to the UN as co-facilitators of the intergovernmental consultations to produce a political declaration on the implementation of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in persons. 

Questions and Responses

Question: I have noticed that talking about the children, the state of the children, the work, the President did not pinpoint the tragedy that happened in Gaza, where over 13,000 children were killed, 17,000 are orphaned, their schools completely destroyed, over 640, 000 children don’t go to school. And yet he talks about children in general, is he living in our world, this President?

 Response: He is living in our world. He has put out statements on a couple of occasions regarding the respect for international law, international humanitarian law – that it is important to protect civilians as well as civilian infrastructure. So this, of course, in terms of civilians, also includes children and the plight of children in Gaza.

Question: There are reports that the UN80 initiative has proposed some ideas on UN reform. I want to know if the President – President Yang – has any comments, ideas, on UN reforms.

Responses: When this was launched by the Secretary-General, I believe, on the 11th of March, he was consulted by the Secretary-General. He’s working to support the UN80 Initiative. And of course, this is why he has convened this meeting on the 12th of May where the Secretary-General will keep the Member States abreast of the process on this UN80 initiative.  

 

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Media Contacts

Sharon Birch, Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly, Tel: +1 212 963 0564, M: +1 646 342 5873, Email: birchs@un.org

Dr. Mariam Shaikh, Adviser/ Social and Digital Media/Media Relations, M: +1 917 361 4990, Email: mariam.shaikh@un.org

 

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