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MARIA FERNANDA ESPINOSA GARCES OF ECUADOR ELECTED AS PRESIDENT OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY¡¯S 73^RD SESSION

• This morning the General Assembly elected the President of its 73rd session.
• The President-elect is Ms. Mar¨ªa Fernanda Espinosa Garc¨¦s of Ecuador.
• She received a total of 128 votes.
• The other candidate, Ms. Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake of Honduras, received 62 votes.
• There were 2 abstentions.
• Espinosa Garc¨¦s will be the fourth woman to hold this position.
• There were 190 Member States present and voting, and 192 ballots cast (all valid). The number of votes needed to win was 96.

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTS VICE PRESIDENTS FOR 73^RD SESSION

• Also this morning, the Vice Presidents of the General Assembly¡¯s 73rd session were elected.
• They will be the Permanent Representatives from the following Member States:
• From the African States: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Namibia and Sudan;
• From the Asia-Pacific States: Cambodia, Cyprus, Iraq, Japan, and Qatar;
• From the Eastern European States: Ukraine;
• From the Latin American and Caribbean States: Guyana and Panama;
• And from the Western European and other States: San Marino and Spain.
• They will join the 5 permanent members of the Security Council, who automatically serve as Vice Presidents of the General Assembly.

MALI GETS 1^ST SEAT IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY HALL

• Also today, we had the drawing of lots to determine the Member State which will occupy the first seat in the General Assembly Hall at the seventy-third session.
• In accordance with established practice, the Secretary-General drew one name from a box containing the names of all United Nations Member States.
• And that country was Mali.
• Mali will now get the first seat in the General Assembly Hall and the other Member States will follow in English alphabetical order. The same order will be observed in the Main Committees.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION NEEDED TO MEET GLOBAL GOALS

• This afternoon, the President will deliver remarks at the launch of an exhibit on innovative technology solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals.
• He is expected to stress the need to better use science, technology and innovation to achieve the Goals — and to keep our promise to leave no one behind.

PRESIDENT MARKS WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY BY CALLING FOR LESS PLASTIC USE

• Also this afternoon, there will be a statement by the President at an event to mark World Environment Day.
• He is expected to say that, ¡°If we want less pollution, we need to use and produce less plastic. It¡¯s as simple as that. We also need less disregard, for the future of this planet. And, for the lives of people who are most vulnerable to the effects of pollution.¡±
• Those remarks will be delivered by his Deputy Chef de Cabinet.
• And that there would be no more single-use plastic bottles used at his future events. He also noted that only glass straws were used at his recent Youth Dialogue and that this practice would be maintained in his office.