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Press Conference by the President of the General Assembly,

Mr. Dennis Francis,

at United Nations Headquarters in New York

9 September 2024

[As delivered]

 

Good morning, everyone.

 

It is with great pride and humility that I, once again, welcome you all ¨C this time to my final Press Conference in the capacity of President of the General Assembly; a role that has been an honour of a lifetime.

 

But, as you would be aware, this mandate is finite. It expires. In the instant case, the transfer of authority marking the conclusion of the 78th session is tomorrow morning.

 

I want to take this opportunity to thank you most sincerely ¨C as members of the media fraternity ¨C for your keen interest in the work and activities of my Presidency.

 

I will be the first to admit that ¨C as is often the case ¨C one never knows when stepping into such a role what to expect in relations with the media. But I was extremely gratified by the accuracy and overall quality of your reporting and I commend all of you for your fine demonstration of that integrity; Very often I received from my team, including from my Spokesperson, Monica, your generally supportive objective assessments and heart- warming words of encouragement.

 

Your diligent coverage of the issues before the 78th session kept this Office accountable to the principles of our Charter – shining an important spotlight on the important work done by this Organization to serve the 8.2 billion inhabitants of this planet that comprise the ¡°we the peoples¡± ¨C referred to in the Charter ¨C and to do so, consistent with the spirit of leaving no one behind.

 

Colleagues, I hope you will agree with me that this has been a truly eventful session;

 

One that began with the adoption of a landmark political declaration at the SDG Summit, which was endorsed by the General Assembly in its first official action of the 78th session, bringing urgency to our efforts to fulfil the SDGs.

 

The political declarations also approved at the three health-related High-Level Meetings ¨C on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response; on universal health coverage and on the fight against tuberculosis ¨C bolstered these efforts, by placing health and people-centred care at the very centre of the international agenda.

 

The High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development, meanwhile, led to a resounding consensus on the need to reform the global financial architecture ¨C with a view to matching our Sustainable Development ambitions for 2030 with the necessary resources for implementation.

 

Furthermore, the Assembly commemorated the significant milestone of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December with an informal plenary and award ceremony for recipients of the ±¬ÁÏÍø Human Rights Prize.

 

At my initiative, in April we convened the Assembly¡¯s first-ever Sustainability Week ¨C featuring events on tourism, transport, infrastructure and energy, as well as a flagship event on debt sustainability, highlighting in particular, the concerns of countries in special situations on these development crises.

 

It was a week devoted to building momentum for the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States in May, the Summit of the Future ¨C now around the corner ¨C and catapulting our shared efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

 

Throughout, we were reminded of the central responsibility to build sustainable peace, the lynchpin of success on any other pillar of the ±¬ÁÏÍø¡¯s work.

 

Following the horrifying escalation of violence in the Middle East, the General Assembly took bold action in resuming its 10th Emergency Special Session, and in doing so, adopting three important resolutions:

 

• One on the protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations,
• Another demanding an immediate ceasefire, that all parties comply with their obligations under international law and the unconditional release of all hostages as well as humanitarian access, and,
• A third determining that the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations and recommending that the Security Council consider the matter favourably.

 

These demands by the Assembly represent the will of the international community, and ¨C as I have routinely said on several occasions ¨C I reiterate these demands, forthrightly, here today. It is time for the violence in Gaza to stop.

 

You may recall that I launched my Presidency under the theme of: ¡°Rebuilding Trust and Reigniting Global Solidarity¡± ¨C underpinned by my four watchwords of Peace, Prosperity, Progress, and Sustainability for all; aimed to anchor my vision and shape our priorities for the session.

 

I am proud of the work we did ¨C with the support of my highly motivated team ¨C on gender and youth, which included re-establishing the gender Advisory Board on Gender Equality and engaging youth frequently, both on official visits abroad and here at the United Nations in New York, as well as elsewhere in the host country.

 

I also was privileged to draw? upon the expert counsel of my Advisory Board for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS ¨C which ensured that we do everything possible to highlight the peculiar needs of these countries in special situations by elevating their legitimate concerns high on our agenda here at the ±¬ÁÏÍø and other global fora.

 

A major achievement of the Presidency was the elevation of the issue of Sea Level rise which had laid unattended to the focused attention of the General Assembly. This is a pervasive concern of several countries in both the global north and the south, though it takes on exceptional significance in the case of Small Island Developing States, and low-lying coastal areas as well as LDCs and LLDCs. At my initiative, Heads of State and Government will take up the issue of the threats posed by Sea Level Rise on 25 September 2024 with a view to giving specific directions for future work.

 

Let me end by reiterating once again that ¨C in all our efforts in the Office of the President of the General Assembly at its 78th session ¨C my entire team, ably guided by my Chef de Cabinet Ambassador Collen Vixen Kelapile, and my Deputy Chef de Cabinet, Inga Kanchaveli ¨C was instrumental in helping us navigate a session marked by extraordinary challenges.

 

I likewise express my deep appreciation to many more who collaborated with my Office, including all members of the General Committee who supported my Presidency ¨C and especially the 21 Vice-Presidents who often stepped in when conflicting commitments required my presence elsewhere.

 

I should like to express my great thanks to your colleague, Monica Grayley, and the extraordinary work they have done to ensure the messaging and the messages of the 78^th session got adequate and fair press coverage and that it reached the target audience ¨C audiences ¨C all over the world.

 

With that, let me turn now to your questions, as I suspect you may have many.

 

I thank you.

 

 

 

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