Spokesperson’s Press Briefing-1 July 2025

(Tuesday, 1 July 2025)

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

 A good afternoon to everyone

The President of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Philemon Yang, is wrapping up his visit in Sevilla, Spain for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development. While there, the President framed the Conference as a defining moment for our world and stated that we must lay the necessary groundwork to fully achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.  To do so, he says, we need political will, global solidarity and the financial resources that exist and can be channeled towards progress. But above all, we need leadership. Leadership, to guide us forward into a brighter, more prosperous future for everyone, everywhere. The President welcomed the adoption of the Compromiso de Sevilla — a landmark outcome of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.

The President welcomes the signing of the Washington peace agreement by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda.

He commends the United States for facilitating this agreement and he calls on both parties to fully comply with and implement the terms of this peace agreement to end decades of war and promote long-lasting peace for the Congolese people. He stresses that only diplomacy, dialogue and the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with the UN Charter and international law can lead to lasting peace and stability in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region.

 At the interactive multistakeholder hearing yesterday ahead of the high-level meeting on the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons that takes place in November, President Yang stated that human trafficking is a crime that affects us all and demands a vigilant, adaptable and coordinated global response.

Also yesterday, a number of resolutions were adopted.

And then, today, the debate on the responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity continues from last week.

Next Monday there will be a plenary debate on the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security.

A high-level meeting on regional zones of peace will also be held on the same day.

A preparatory meeting for the 2026 UN Water Conference takes place on 9 July to promote the importance of Sustainable Development Goal 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation and to agree on the themes of the interactive dialogues for the Conference.

And the day after, 10 July, a high-level meeting on sand and dust storms on the theme “Working across agendas for resilience and sustainability” has been convened in the context of the International Day of Combatting Sand and Dust Storms, celebrated on 12 July.

Finally, on 11 July, there will be a high-level interactive dialogue on the social, economic and environmental determinants of health.

That time is coming up. The 80th session of the General Assembly.  As Stephane indicated yesterday, the deadline for media accreditation is 29 August. As soon as we have more details on the upcoming session, we will share.

Question: Is there any update on the Conference on Palestine?

Response: No, at this time, we do not have any updates. I would also like to encourage everyone, because it’s a member [state] led conference,  please reach out to the Missions as well.

Question:  Well, we heard some tentative dates for end of July.

Response: There are no updates.

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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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