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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

22 August 2018

PRESIDENT TO HEAD TO AUSTRIA & LIECHTENSTEIN

  • The President will?visit Liechtenstein this Friday, 24 August. He will then head to Austria,?where he will participate in
  • the European Forum Alpbach on 25 and 26 August.
  • In?Liechtenstein, the President will meet with national officials, including the Hereditary Prince; the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Justice and Culture; and the President of the Parliament.
  • He will also attend a meeting on the role of philanthropy and civil society at the United Nations, as well as another on migration as part of the Sustainable Development Agenda.
  • In Alpbach, Austria, President Laj?ák will participate in the Political Symposium of the European Forum Alpbach 2018 under the theme “Diversity and Resilience”.
  • He will also deliver opening remarks at a high-level retreat organized by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Austria entitled “The resilience of values: Reconciling diversity and universality”.
  • And he will address a workshop entitled “The resilience of values: The role of national and multilateral institutions in strengthening the international system”.
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WE NEED CIVIL SOCIETY TO SPEAK UP FOR U.N. & MULTILATERALISM, PRESIDENT SAYS

  • In a?statement?today to the 67th DPI/NGO Conference, the President said, “If we want to press for global solutions to global problems, if we want to make our multilateral system even stronger, then we need civil society to speak up on behalf of the United Nations, and on behalf of multilateralism.”
  • That statement was delivered by the Permanent Representative of Ghana, who also serves as one of the General Assembly’s Vice Presidents.
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NO DATE SET YET FOR KOFI ANNAN TRIBUTE

  • Asked when the General Assembly would hold a commemorative meeting to pay tribute to former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Spokesperson said that no date had been set yet.
  • He added that, while the commemoration would definitely be held, the timing was still being discussed and coordinated between the President’s office, the Secretariat, the Government of Ghana and Mr. Annan’s family.
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