Adoption of the 81st GA Agenda & other topics - PGA Spokesperson Briefing

Okay, hi folks. Thanks for coming. I wanted to take this opportunity to brief you ahead of the weekend on the activities of the General Assembly and of President Rahman since he took office and spoke to the press on Tuesday. The days are already kind of running together. And also on the activities that are coming up. So today the Assembly met in plenary and adopted the agenda and organization of work for its 81st session. This is upon the recommendation of its General Committee, which was made earlier this week. The President is also delivering remarks today for the UN Day for South-South Cooperation, which is observed annually on 12 September. Among other things, he will highlight the ways that South-South and triangular partnerships are translating the priorities at the heart of his presidency into inclusive and country-owned action, from peace and security to climate resilience and responsible digital governance and beyond. Then on Monday, the President will deliver remarks at a GA plenary to pay tribute to the late King of Norway, Harald V, who passed away on 28 August. After that, the Assembly has quite a light schedule, as you can imagine, until the start of the high-level week, when we will have more General Assembly than we know what to do with. You'll have seen Lynese's e-mail with the most updated list of speakers for the general debate that was sent out. I think it's dated 4 September. If you do not have this, please reach out to my team. We will get it to you. And just note, this is likely the last iteration, excuse me, until the DGACM makes this final and uploads it to the journal. So it's likely not to change until then. And please keep refreshing the journal and refer to that as your next source. As you know, the general debate begins the 22nd. And I'm sure you're aware of all the high-level events taking place that week, but just to spell them out, on Wednesday, 23rd September, the President will deliver remarks at the high-level meeting to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development. This will be in conference room four. 15 p.m., he will co-host the annual meeting of the UNGA Platform of Women Leaders. co-hosting alongside Miss Sima Sami Bahous, the Executive Director of UN Women. Thursday the 24th, the President will deliver remarks at the high-level plenary meeting to address existential threats posed by sea level rise. That's in conference room 4. And on Friday the 25th, he'll speak to the high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, which is in conference room 1. Excuse me. Side events and other meetings are being, excuse me, considered on that busy week, but we don't have anything tangible for you on that yet. So that's a glimpse into the high level week and next week as well. And with that, I think I'll take any questions that you might have for me. And please bear with me on learning all your names and faces. So thank you.

With Arab News Daily. Thank you, Melissa. Do you have anything to share with us about any bilateral meetings that the PGA would be holding? Whatever you can share with us would be very helpful.

Thank you. I know that's that's of great interest, but the the calendar is still being finalized. We will share more information once we have it.

And if I may ask you a general question as we're gearing up for a high-level week, how would you describe the mood in the PGA office and in this building in general? What are the expectations from world leaders who will be convening in New York? And what are the hopes for this General Assembly? Thank you.

Well, I think, you know, we all think that this is a transitional year, a very important year. given all the changes we've seen. So as you've heard directly from President Rachman, you know, his vision is really underpinned by his six priorities, accelerating sustainable development, strengthening peace and security, climate action, advancing human rights, and the GAs role in that process, and ensuring that technological transformation improves lives and leaves no one behind. And he's also really stressed the need to restore trust in multilateralism itself. I think this is on all of our minds. And on this last point, he has stressed that, you know, trust cannot just be requested. It has to be earned. So he's really looking for concrete commitments, tangible results, and these will be the guideposts of his tenure. Yes, Desi.

My name is Zhang from Xinhua News Agency. I'm wondering, you know, you updated a seating plan in the General Assembly Hall during the high level, I mean, the next General Assembly. Between Z and A, there is, in the updated plan, there is Mauritania. I'm wondering why, because should be Z and then A, B, C, right? So the old seating plan was all right, was in strict alphabetical order. But the updated plan, there is more between Z and A. Can you explain that?

I assume this is a protocol issue, but I just have to be honest that I don't know about this, and I'm going to have to check with the substantive folks. And if we have something, we'll get back to you. Thanks. Anyone else in the room? OK. Oh, yes.

Thank you so much. I am Nathan Goma. I'm from Zimbabwe, and I'm a DAAG fellow for this year.

Nice to meet you.

Yeah, so mine is just a general question. I don't know if you can help me. So it's based in-- it's from Mozambique in southern Africa, in Cabo Delgado, where there's been insurgency, where there's been-- yeah, where there's been Islamic insurgency. With SADC's military mission in Mozambique now closed and Rwanda continuing with its military operations, there's been more fighting and the rebels have taken, they've actually gone into the neighboring province of Niassa where 20 people have been abducted. I just wanted to know what role does the SG seek for SADC in addressing the continuing insurgency in Southern Africa?

Thank you. I mean, as you know, I'm the PGA spokesperson and Stefan de Jager is the SG spokesperson, so this is really a matter for him. And just generally speaking on these kinds of matters of peace and security or political affairs, I'll refer you, for all of you, consistently to the Security Council, the various envoys and special representatives of the SG, our colleagues in OCHA, and also in the Office for Peace and Peacebuilding Affairs. So thank you. Please refer to them. Anyone else in the room today? We can take questions online as well. I'm quite new to this technology, so bear with me. All right, I'm seeing no questions online yet. Thanks, Daniela. Okay, if there are no more questions on the upcoming weeks, let's wrap, and I'm sure you'll be speaking to his excellency soon too. Thank you.