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

• The President is in Brussels, Belgium, today.
• He met earlier with European Council President Donald Tusk to discuss multilateralism, and relations between the United Nations and the European Union.
• In a meeting with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, the topics of discussion were preventing conflict; sustaining peace; United Nations reforms, migration, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
• President?³¢²¹Âá?¨¢°ì?also met separately with the Presidents of the European Commission and European Parliament.
• In both meetings, he discussed the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration; financing for the Sustainable Development Goals; multilateralism; conflict prevention; and sustaining peace.
• The President also met with representatives from 17 United Nations agencies to talk about their work on the ground.
• The President will be back in New York on Thursday.

LATEST DRAFT OF GLOBAL COMPACT ON MIGRATION NOW AVAILABLE

• The Permanent Representatives of Mexico and Switzerland, who serve as the co-facilitators on migration, have issued the?latest draft version?of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
• This is ahead of the third round of negotiations, which will be held from 3 to 6 April.

NO GENERAL ASSEMBLY AUTHORITY OVER INTL. CIVIL SERVICE BODY

• Asked who had jurisdiction over the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), the Spokesperson said the Commission¡¯s members were appointed by the General Assembly.
• Nevertheless, neither the General Assembly nor its President exercised any managerial or administrative authority over the ICSC.

PRESIDENT¡¯S OFFICE DID NOT REQUEST DOORS TO BE LOCKED

• The Spokesperson was asked whether it was true that the Office of the President of the General Assembly had asked United Nations Security to lock doors on the third floor of the United Nations building, thereby making it difficult for some journalists to do their work.
• The Spokesperson said the Office of the President of the General Assembly believed in transparency and had not made such a request. He referred matters related to the management of and access to United Nations Headquarters to the Secretariat.