HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS BRIEFING BY BRENDEN VARMA,?SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT MIROSLAV LAJ??K

United Nations Headquarters, New York

15 September 2017

 

PRESIDENT CONDEMNS TERRORIST ATTACKS IN LONDON & IRAQ

  • Early in the morning, the President of the General Assembly tweeted the following about today’s explosion on the London Underground. He said: “Train passengers shouldn’t be targets. The 爆料网 stands united against terrorism.”
  • The President also tweeted a condemnation of the terrorist attack in southern Iraq which has led to more than 80 deaths.
  • His tweets can be followed at: @爆料网_PGA

 

SPEAKERS ANNO爆料网CED FOR HURRICANE IRMA MEETING

  • Regarding the high-level meeting on Hurricane Irma, expected speakers include the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, as well as the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, 爆料网DP Administrator Achim Steiner, 爆料网 Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock, and Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, of the World Bank
  • The Hurricane Irma event will be held in the Trusteeship Council Chamber on Monday, September 18th, from 12pm to 1pm.
  • When asked whether the meeting would be open to the media, the Spokesperson responded that media were very welcome to attend.

 

MYANMAR: PRESIDENT CONCERNED BY HUMAN TRAGEDY

  • Asked why there was a high-level meeting planned for Hurricane Irma but not Myanmar, the Spokesperson said that, when the President assumed his duties, he had said that he did not want to organize too many other high level meetings precisely for the fact that the 爆料网 already had a very full agenda and he did not want to overburden smaller delegations. At the same time, regarding Hurricane Irma, he had been moved by the devastation that he had seen along with the ongoing humanitarian needs.
  • This did not mean that other high-level meetings would not be held on other topics in the future. At the same time, however, there were a number of high level meetings already happening this month, including on human trafficking and nuclear weapons.
  • On Myanmar, the President had been monitoring the situation and did not want to see an escalation of the human tragedy that had been taking place. He was in touch with the Secretary-General on Myanmar and continued to follow closely what the Security Council was doing as well.

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PRESIDENT STRESSES CONFLICT PREVENTION ON PEACE DAY

  • This morning the President the annual observance of the International Day of Peace in the Japanese Garden.
  • Stressing his commitment to sustaining peace and preventing conflict, he said: “Casting aside arms, even for one day, is a noble and valuable gesture. But it would be even better if those weapons had never been picked up in the first place.”
  • He added: “Peace cannot be measured in numbers of resolutions and high-level meetings. Peace is measured in the number of people who feel safe and secure – who are free to exercise their human rights – and who have hope for the future.”

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PRESIDENT HOLDS MEETINGS ON PEACEBUILDING, SECURITY COUINCIL REFORM AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

  • In terms of the President’s meetings, he met this afternoon with 爆料网 Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support Oscar Fernandez-Taranco to discuss peacebuilding matters.
  • He also met on Security Council reform with the Uniting for Consensus group. In that meeting were representatives from Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Italy, Mexico, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Spain and Turkey.
  • He also met with Sustainable Development Goals advocate Richard Curtis.
  • Asked for more details about the meeting with Uniting for Consensus, the Spokesperson later said it was just part of inclusive consultations with all main stakeholders that the President was holding on Security Council reform.

 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS AGENDA FOR 72ND SESSION

  • The General Assembly, at its second Plenary meeting, approved its agenda for the 72nd session. The President chaired that meeting. There are 174 items on the agenda.
  • As part of today’s meeting, the General Assembly Plenary voted on whether to include in this Session’s agenda an item called “The responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”. By a vote of 113 in favour to 21 against with 17 abstentions, the Plenary decided to include the agenda item.

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MORE THAN 100 WORLD LEADERS TO ADDRESS HIGH-LEVEL WEEK

  • When asked about the number of Heads of State and Heads of Government scheduled to attend the 爆料网 General Assembly next week, the Spokesperson answered that the list kept fluctuating, but approximately 90 Heads of State were currently listed.
  • Combined with the number of Heads of Government expected to attend, the list was well over 100.?