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HIGH-LEVEL MEETING REACHES SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION, PUTS ¡°SUSTAINING PEACE¡± FIRMLY ON GLOBAL AGENDA

• Today the President¡¯s High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace concluded after hearing from 22 speakers during the morning.
• The President considers the meeting to have been a success for three reasons.
• First, visibility and awareness of the concept of ¡°sustaining peace¡± was increased. In fact, this topic has never gotten this level of attention before. The high number of world leaders in attendance drew attention to this new understanding that peace is more than just a ceasefire.
• Second, the meeting ensured that the resolutions on Sustaining Peace, adopted by the General Assembly and Security Council in 2016, were not a one-off measure ¨C but rather the start of a whole new approach to peace. The to be adopted today and the President¡¯s summary will continue to drive the process forward. It is now firmly on the global agenda.
• Third, the sharing of experience has led to more ideas for the future ¨C including with respect to financing.

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PRESIDENT TO MEET WITH POPE & EXTERNAL ADVISORS IN ROME

• The President will travel to Rome, Italy, tomorrow evening. While there, he will hold his third meeting with his Team of External Advisers.
• The discussions are expected to focus on peace and conflict prevention, threats to multilateralism, migration and financing for the Sustainable Development Goals.
• The President will also meet with the Pope.

ASSEMBLY TO FOCUS ON TUBERCULOSIS, WHICH KILLS 4,500 PEOPLE A DAY

• This morning, the President met with parliamentarians to discuss the first ever High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis, which will be held at the United Nations in September.
• The President noted in his remarks that this will be the first time the General Assembly is focusing its attention on tuberculosis ¨C which is preventable and curable but still claims over 4,500 lives daily.
• He said we committed to end the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030. And it¡¯s time to ramp up action to meet that goal.
• Asked why tuberculosis deserved special attention, as opposed to other diseases such as AIDS or malaria, the Spokesperson said it was the Member States that had decided to hold a High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis. The Spokesperson also noted that tuberculosis currently kills more people than any other infectious disease, including HIV.

PRESIDENT DISCUSSES FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT WITH HEAD OF U.N.C.T.A.D.

• with the Secretary-General of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Conference on Trade and Development (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵCTAD).
• They spoke about collaboration on the President¡¯s high-level meeting on financing for the Sustainable Development Goals, which will take place in June.

NEXT MIGRATION AGENCY CHIEF SHOULD SHARE U.N. VALUES ON MIGRATION

• The Spokesperson was asked whether the President could take any action to make the election process of the next Director?General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) more transparent. The Spokesperson replied that the President had no role whatsoever with respect to that process.
• Asked if the President had any reaction to comments made by Ken Isaacs, a candidate in the upcoming election, the Spokesperson said that migration was a major issue for the General Assembly, and IOM¡¯s expertise on this topic was undisputed. IOM was therefore a key partner to the General Assembly ¨C and who its next head was would be a relevant issue for the General Assembly.
• The President hoped that whoever was selected would share the values of United Nations Member States and the international community when it came to migration.
• Asked whether the President planned to meet Mr. Isaacs, the Spokesperson said he was not aware of any such meeting having been scheduled.

EMERGENCY SPECIAL SESSION ON GAZA WOULD REQUIRE INITIATIVE FROM MEMBER STATES

• Asked whether the General Assembly would hold an emergency special session related to recent demonstrations by Palestinians in Gaza, the Spokesperson said that such a session would require an initiative from Member States, and no such initiative had been taken as of yet.
• Asked whether the President had been formally approached by the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to the United Nations on this matter, the Spokesperson noted that the President had received a letter dated 3 April from the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine, which sought to inform the President of recent events in Gaza. Other than that, there had been no recent formal meeting between the President and the Palestinian Ambassador.