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

(Tuesday, 8 July 2025)
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s briefing.
Good afternoon
International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica
Frist of all, the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, that day is celebrated on 11 July. But at a commemorative event today, the President of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Philemon Yang, stated that we honour the memory of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims who were systematically murdered.
We stand with their families, who continue to carry the weight of that loss, and with survivors whose daily life has remained a profound struggle ever since.
We also reaffirm our shared responsibility to ensure that the lessons of Srebrenica, and of other tragedies of the same kind, are never forgotten.
Texas floods
The President of the UN General Assembly stands in solidarity with the people of Texas in the aftermath of the devastating floods experienced over the last few days. As the world faces increasing climate-related challenges, he said that it’s crucial we work together globally to build stronger, more resilient communities.
This week
A preparatory meeting for the 2026 UN Water Conference takes place tomorrow to agree on the themes of the interactive dialogues for the Conference. As you may know, the 2026 UN Water Conference, co-hosted by Senegal and United Arab Emirates, takes place on 2 to 4 December 2026 in UAE.  
The President has convened a high-level meeting on Sand and Dust storms on 10 July.
And on Friday, there will be a high-level interactive dialogue on the social, economic, and environmental determinants of health.
 
Next Week
An Informal interactive dialogue of the Assembly on the implementation of the Pact for the Future – Looking ahead to 2028 will be held on 17 July. This dialogue aims to provide a platform for Member States to deliberate on the design and preparation of the 2028 review of the Pact.
An Informal meeting of the plenary to mark the observance of “Nelson Mandela International Day” takes place on 18 July. The laureates of the Nelson Mandela Prize – Brenda Reynolds of Canada and Kennedy Odede of Kenya, will be honored during the annual commemoration.
Press briefing
A reminder -there will a press briefing organised by the Office of the President of the General Assembly on 10 July. A note on this was shared last week. I hope you can make it. This one will be on AI governance, so it promises to be very interesting.
H.E. Ms. Maritza Chan Valverde, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the UN and H.E. Hector Jose Gomez Hernandez, Permanent Representative of Spain to the UN, appointed co-facilitators by the President of the UN General to identify the terms of reference and modalities for the establishment and functioning of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, will update correspondents on the status of discussions.
GA80
Lastly, we sent out a note on the theme for the 80th session of the General Assembly, including the General Debate. The theme is Better Together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights.
Questions and Responses
 
Question:   Do you have any list of September UNGA Speakers?
Response:  Not just yet but as soon as we do, we will share.
 ___
 
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

of the 79th Session – UN General Assembly