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

PRESIDENT APPOINTS CO-FACILITATORS FOR PEACEBULIDING RESOLUTION

• The President has appointed the Permanent Representatives of Bangladesh and Lithuania as co-facilitators to lead consultations on a draft resolution to be adopted during the High-level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace. The President will convene that meeting on 24 and 25 April.
• In keeping with his commitment to gender balance, the President appointed one woman and one man. He met with them both of them this morning.

PREPARATIONS Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDERWAY FOR NON-COMMÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵICABLE DISEASES MEETING

• Today Member States are holding their second round of consultations on the comprehensive review of progress achieved in preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases.
• This is in advance of an envisioned meeting on this topic that would be held in September in New York.
• The preparatory discussions that will be held today will focus on such topics as dates, participation and themes for discussion.

PRESIDENT TO HEAD TO SOUTH AMERICA TOMORROW

• The Spokesperson reminded journalists that the President would be heading to Colombia and Brazil tomorrow morning and return to the office on Tuesday 20 March.
• More information on that trip was available online.

VENEZUELA: ANY ASSEMBLY ACTION ON ELECTORAL OBSERVATION WOULD REQUIRE INITIATIVE FROM MEMBER STATES

• In response to questions, the Spokesperson said that, regarding the matter of an electoral observation mission in Venezuela, there had been a verbal request from the Venezuelan Government to the President during a meeting. The President¡¯s office had looked into that request.
• Yesterday the President¡¯s office had informed the Permanent Mission of Venezuela to the United Nations that it had determined that the requested electoral observation mission was currently a matter for the Secretariat ¨C as demonstrated by yesterday¡¯s meeting between Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and a Venezuelan delegation.
• Any further action by the General Assembly would require an initiative from Member States.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTIONS ARE IMPORTANT EXPRESSIONS OF POLITICAL WILL

• Asked about the nature and value of General Assembly resolutions, the Spokesperson stressed that they were significant and ¡°important expressions of political will by the Member States¡±. As the head of the organ, the President stood behind such resolutions.
• The Spokesperson added, ¡°Whenever you have the chief deliberative body of the United Nations, which now involves 193 Member States, speaking on a matter, that is something very important that the world should pay attention to, and it is up to Member States to take on these recommendations.¡±
• In response to a further question, the Spokesperson affirmed that the President respected the sovereignty of Member States.

PRESIDENT APPOINTED ACTING OFFICIAL TO MANAGE SLOVAK FOREIGN MINISTRY

• Asked about a media story that said the President had ¡°sent state secretary Igor Kor?ok¡± to replace him in a Slovak Government Cabinet meeting, the Spokesperson explained that the President still held the position of Foreign Minister of Slovakia.
• However, because the General Assembly was his primary focus, he had appointed Mr. Kor?ok as his Acting Foreign Minister in Bratislava.
• Kor?ok¡¯s role was to manage the day-to-day business of the Slovak Foreign Ministry. In that regard, Mr. Kor?ok had attended the Cabinet meeting in question as per normal practice.