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

PRESIDENT CALLS FOR RECOMMITMENT TO MULTILATERALISM AT N.A.M. CONFERENCE

• The President is currently in Baku, Azerbaijan. This morning, he delivered remarks to the Mid-Term Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement under the theme ¡°Promoting international peace and security for sustainable development¡±.
• He said, ¡°We cannot address the link between peace and sustainable development without acknowledging that we are facing major challenges, in both areas¡­ Institutions are crumbling to conflict¡­ people¡¯s prayers and calls for peace remain unanswered¡­ climate change is waging an invisible war, across new battlegrounds, and¡­ the gap between the rich and the poor gets even wider.¡±
• He added, ¡°Some areas in the world feel these challenges more than others. But no country, land, or group is immune. So, we need to recommit to working together. To cooperation. To multilateralism. And to the United Nations.¡±
• Also in Baku today, President Laj?¨¢k met separately with the President and Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, as well as the Media and Communication Affairs Minister of Jordan.
• He visited a joint project involving the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Country Team and the Azerbaijani Government, which makes Government services more accessible to citizens through technology.
• And he participated in an interactive discussion with students at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (ADA) University — on multilateralism, the work of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ, sustaining peace, conflict prevention, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the role of youth in current global affairs.

WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY SHOULD SPUR US INTO ACTION

• In a statement this morning to an event here at Headquarters, entitled ¡°Empowering Women and Girls with Autism¡±, the President said, ¡°World Autism Awareness Day is a platform to raise public awareness about autism. But beyond this, it should spur us into action.
• ¡°Let us raise our voices and improve our policies for every woman and girl affected by autism. Let us reject discrimination, stigma and injustice. And instead, let us embrace empowerment, dignity and humanity ¨C for all people affected by autism.¡±
• The President¡¯s statement was delivered by the Permanent Representative of Afghanistan, who serves as a Vice-President of the General Assembly.

INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE ON ASSEMBLY REVITALIZATION BEING HELD TODAY

• Today the Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly are holding an interactive dialogue between Permanent Missions and the Secretariat.
• The Secretariat participants will include representatives of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management, the Department of Management, the Department of Safety and Security and the Department of Public Information.
• The Co-Chairs, who were appointed by the President, are the Permanent Representatives of Colombia and Croatia.
• In response to questions, the Spokesperson later added that today¡¯s interactive dialogue had taken place in a format decided by Member States in accordance with .
• According to that resolution, the interactive dialogue aimed at improving the work of the Secretariat in its interaction with the Permanent Missions, including through identifying issues in the interaction of the Secretariat with the Permanent Missions and identifying solutions in better meeting the needs and requirements of the Permanent Missions regarding standard operating procedures used at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

GAZA: PRESIDENT REGRETS LOSS OF LIFE, CALLS FOR CALM, WOULD SUPPORT PROBE

• Asked about the President¡¯s reaction to recent events in Gaza, the Spokesperson said the President had been following the situation, regretted the loss of life and called for calm.
• The Spokesperson added that the President would support the establishment of a credible investigation, which he hoped would be in the interest of future relations between Israelis and Palestinians.
• The Spokesperson noted that the President had received a letter on 3 April from the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, which sought to bring his attention to the situation.
• Asked whether the General Assembly would now resume its , the Spokesperson said such an initiative would have to come from Member States. Thus far, no such initiative had been taken.

U.K. & RUSSIA SHOULD SUPPORT INVESTIGATION TO HELP ESTABLISH TRUTH

• The Spokesperson was asked whether the President was following the ¡°Salisbury dispute¡± between the Russian Federation and United Kingdom and how he felt it should be resolved.
• The Spokesperson said the President was following the matter closely and always called for disputes to be resolved through dialogue.
• He later added that the President believed that both parties should support an investigation to help establish the truth.

5^th COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER G.S.D.M. REPORT NEXT MONTH

• The Spokesperson was asked about the timeline and procedure for the General Assembly to consider the Secretary-General¡¯s Global Service Delivery Model (GSDM) report.
• The Spokesperson later informed the journalist that an advance unedited version of the report had been shared with Member States and was being considered today by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).
• The report would then be considered by the Fifth Committee during its second resumed session in May before going to the General Assembly plenary. The Spokesperson noted that Fifth Committee decisions were traditionally based on consensus.