{"id":127285,"date":"2017-10-23T18:03:53","date_gmt":"2017-10-23T22:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/72\/?p=127285\/"},"modified":"2018-06-18T19:20:54","modified_gmt":"2018-06-18T23:20:54","slug":"highlights-of-press-briefing-by-spokesperson-23-october-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/72\/2017\/10\/23\/highlights-of-press-briefing-by-spokesperson-23-october-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Highlights of press briefing by spokesperson \u2013 23 October 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.69&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h1><strong>HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS BRIEFING BY BRENDEN VARMA,\u00a0<\/strong><strong>SPOKESPERSON FOR <\/strong><strong>GENERAL ASSEMBLY <\/strong><strong>PRESIDENT <\/strong><strong>MIROSLAV LAJ\u010c\u00c1K <\/strong><\/h1>\n<div class=\"post-meta vcard\">\n<p><strong>United Nations Headquarters, New York<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"updated\">23 October 2017<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.69&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h3><strong>GENERAL COMMITTEE CONSIDERS ADDITIONAL AGENDA ITEMS<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>This afternoon, the President chaired the second meeting of the General Committee. The first was held on 13 September.<\/li>\n<li>The Committee considered Member States\u2019 requests to include additional items on the General Assembly\u2019s agenda.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>INTERNATIONAL LAW WEEK KICKS OFF<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>This week\u00a0is International Law Week.<\/li>\n<li>The General Assembly\u2019s Sixth Committee, which handles legal matters, started considering the Report of the International Law Commission today.<\/li>\n<li>In addition, the\u00a0Heads of Legal Departments and legal advisers from Member States\u2019 capitals are at United Nations Headquarters to engage in informal discussions with each other<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>THIRD COMMITTEE HOLDS DIALOGUES WITH HUMAN RIGHTS RAPPORTEURS<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The General Assembly\u2019s Third Committee \u2013 or Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee \u2013 is continuing to hold interactive dialogues with United Nations Special Rapporteurs this week.<\/li>\n<li>This morning it heard from the Special Rapporteurs on the right to food; on the right to education; and on extreme poverty and human rights.<\/li>\n<li>This afternoon, it was expected to hear from the Special Rapporteurs on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation; on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living; and on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>COÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵTRY SPECIFIC HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTIONS TO BE SUBMITTED BEFORE 31 OCT.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The Spokesperson was asked about the dates for tabling and adopting country specific resolutions in the Third Committee.<\/li>\n<li>He later responded that the deadline for submission of resolutions under agenda item 72 (c) [Human rights situations and reports of special rapporteurs and representatives] was 31 October at 1:00 p.m. This item normally included the country specific resolutions.<\/li>\n<li>He added that it was up to Member States to submit resolutions, including country specific resolutions. These would then be considered by the Committee at a date yet to be determined. Traditionally, country specific resolutions were adopted during the penultimate week of the Committee\u2019s session (the week of 13 November).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>INCREASED SPENDING ON ARMS AND DEFENCE LEAVES PLANET INSECURE<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The Spokesperson was asked what the General Assembly President thought about delegates in the General Assembly\u2019s First Committee calling for a shift of global expenditures from weapons to development. The journalist added that $1.7 trillion had been spent on arms in 2016.<\/li>\n<li>The Spokesperson replied that the President had already delivered a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/72\/2017\/10\/02\/first-committee\/\">statement<\/a> on this exact matter since it was important to him.<\/li>\n<li>The Spokesperson later added that this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/72\/2017\/10\/02\/first-committee\/\">statement<\/a> had been delivered to the First Committee on 2 October. Specifically, the President had said: \u201cGlobal military spending grew to a reported US$1.686 trillion in 2016. Let me state that again: 1.686 trillion dollars. This while millions live in extreme poverty, lack access to basic services and go hungry. While we increase spending on arms and defence, we fail to adequately secure our planet, our health, our well-being. I therefore call on Member States to summon the political will to do more. We must show courage and exercise flexibility in order to advance the ultimate aim of ensuring a peaceful and secure environment, for all.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATIVE AND BUDGETARY QUESTIONS CONSIDERING MANAGEMENT REFORM PROPOSALS<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The Spokesperson was asked about whether the General Assembly\u2019s Fifth Committee, which handles administrative and budgetary matters, was considering changes to the United Nations Department of Field Support.<\/li>\n<li>The Spokesperson later added that the Secretary-General\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/undocs.org\/A\/72\/492\">report on management reform<\/a> was currently under consideration by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly. It would then move to the Fifth Committee during the main session.<\/li>\n<li>The Secretary-General had proposed separating policy from operations by establishing two different departments: one for policy and compliance and the other to support operations. This would require the re-engineering of the existing Departments of Management and Field Support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>NO REPORT RECEIVED YET ON DEATH OF DAG HAMMARSKJ\u00d6LD<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Asked about the status of the report on the death of Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld that the Secretary-General was to transmit to the General Assembly, the Spokesperson later noted that this report had not yet been received by the General Assembly.<\/li>\n<li>He added that agenda item 130 (Investigation into the conditions and circumstances resulting in the tragic death of Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld and of the members of the party accompanying him) was scheduled to be considered by the General Assembly on 6 December.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_code admin_label=&#8221;BrightCove Video ShortCode&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.6&#8243;]\n<!-- iframe plugin v.6.0 wordpress.org\/plugins\/iframe\/ -->\n<iframe width=\"&quot;100%&quot;\" height=\"&quot;180&quot;\" src scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n&lt;!&#8211; [et_pb_line_break_holder] &#8211;&gt;[\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Highlights of press briefing by spokesperson Brenden Varma \u2013 23 October 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[232],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spokespersons-briefings","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - 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