{"id":148485,"date":"2018-04-16T17:44:17","date_gmt":"2018-04-16T21:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/72\/?p=148485"},"modified":"2018-06-18T18:45:50","modified_gmt":"2018-06-18T22:45:50","slug":"highlights-of-press-briefing-by-spokesperson-16-april-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/72\/2018\/04\/16\/highlights-of-press-briefing-by-spokesperson-16-april-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS BRIEFING BY SPOKESPERSON \u2013 16 APRIL 2018"},"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;3.0.87&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#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\">16 April 2018<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.87&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h3><strong>INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DESERVE ACTION, NOT JUST WORDS<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>This morning, the President of the General Assembly <a href=\"\/pga\/72?p=148305\">addressed<\/a> the opening ceremony of the 17th\u00a0session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.<\/li>\n<li>He said, \u201cOur resolutions, and our speeches, can make it seem like everything is perfect. They emphasise the rights of indigenous peoples. They recognise the value of indigenous culture and heritage. And, they encourage greater integration &#8211; and participation &#8211; of indigenous peoples in the decisions that affect them.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cBut, everything is not perfect. The reality for indigenous peoples is very different to how it sounds on paper. None of our resolutions talk about their desperation. None of our speeches can give credit to their pain.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>He added, \u201cThey deserve more than our words. Words cannot protect their ancestral lands. Words cannot keep their lakes clean. And words cannot make sure there is a future ahead, for their children.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cAnd so,\u201d he concluded, \u201cI hope we can have a Permanent Forum, which goes beyond words. And, a Permanent Forum, which focuses &#8211; not on politics or positions &#8211; but on people.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>PRESIDENT HIGHLIGHTS OCEANS AT MARINE BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY MEETING<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Also this morning, the President delivered <a href=\"\/pga\/72?p=148341\">remarks<\/a> at an\u00a0organizational meeting\u00a0of the Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument under the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).<\/li>\n<li>The President said,\u201d We do not have other oceans we can use, when our current ones are depleted. That is why we need to act now.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>In today\u2019s meeting, Ms. Rena Lee of Singapore was formally elected to preside over the BBNJ process. The President had nominated her earlier this year.<\/li>\n<li>This organizational meeting will last until Wednesday. The first substantive meeting will be held in September.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>U.N. HAS NEVER BEEN MORE AT RISK<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Right now, the President is speaking at an event called \u201cÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵ 2.0: Past, Present &amp; Future of the United Nations\u201d. It has been organized by the European-American Chamber of Commerce.<\/li>\n<li>He is making the point that we have never needed the United Nations more. And yet, the United Nations has never been more at risk.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>PRESIDENT MEETS WITH CHAIRS OF REGIONAL GROUPS<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The President will be meeting with the Chairs of the Regional Groups this afternoon. Those are the representatives from Iceland, Mali, Montenegro, Republic of Korea and Suriname.<\/li>\n<li>They will be speaking about the President\u2019s upcoming events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>PRESIDENT DEVASTATED BY MURDER OF SLOVAK JOURNALIST LAST FEBRUARY<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Asked for the President\u2019s reaction to developments related to the killing of Slovak journalist J\u00e1n Kuciak last February, the Spokesperson said the President strongly believed in the freedom of the press and the right of journalists to be able to work in safe and secure environments.<\/li>\n<li>In that regard, the President had been devastated by the brutal murder of Mr. Kuciak and his partner.<\/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 16 April 2018<\/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-148485","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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