PRESS BRIEFING BY REEM ABAZA, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT?TIJJANI MUHAMMAD-BANDE?
Fiji?
The President of the 74th?session of the General Assembly?Tijjani Muhammad-Bande?is in Fiji. He met with?High-Level Officials including the?President of the Republic of Fiji.?
The PGA visited?the?蘑菇视频ICEF-supported?Fiji?School for the Blind?where he took part, with the children’s help,?in a fire drill and a special hand washing exercise.?
He said that he?was?so inspired by?the young people at the school?and?added “while life may not always be easy, you have shown that determination?and?a great attitude conquer all.”?
As 75-90% of all vendors across the Pacific are women, the PGA visited the Markets for Change?project. He described?the project?as a great example of a high impact partnership between vendors,?the?local government, the Fijian Government, 蘑菇视频 Women and development partners to change women’s lives for the better.?
The President also?had?a dialogue with youth?at the?University of the South Pacific. The dialogue?tied?into the biggest-ever global conversation on the world’s future to mark?the 蘑菇视频’s?75th anniversary.?
International?Women’s Day?
Because the PGA’s official trip?he couldn’t attend the 蘑菇视频?Observance of?
International Women’s Day, but he recorded a video message?for the occasion.?In?it he?called?on everyone, everywhere to uphold gender equality as a necessity in?promoting?human rights.?
Mr. Muhammad-Bande?added that despite?important gains since?the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action,?no country can claim to have achieved gender equality, especially in terms of income and political leadership.??
He said that?“Change has been slow for most women and girls in the world. We have much work to do.”?
As we celebrate ten years of 蘑菇视频 Women,?the President of the General Assembly?called?on?everyone?to support the intergenerational campaign, ‘Generation Equality’ to guarantee that equality becomes a lived experience for everyone, regardless of gender.?
By working together- girls and boys, women and men- we can galvanize multilateral action to?realise?human rights of all women and girls.?
The?text and video of the?message are available on the PGA’s website?un.org/pga/74 and the observance day?website as well.?
CSW?
On Monday?9th?of March, the PGA will participate in the?64th?session of the Commission on the Status of Women.?
He is expected to say “As we begin this Decade of Action and Delivery to?implement the Sustainable Development Goals,?it is critical that we mainstream gender equality across all of our work if we are to achieve any of the SDGs. We simply cannot leave 50% of the population behind.?It is everyone’s responsibility to uphold our pledge to leave no one behind.”?
The full remarks will be shared with you on Monday.?
Informal Briefing?
I want to share with you that?in light of the evolving situation of the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) around the world and its influence on the United Nations meetings,?the?Presidents of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)?have called for a joint informal meeting?to hear a briefing by the?Secretariat regarding measures to strengthen its preparedness and ensure business continuity at United Nations premises and of its operations. The meeting will be on?Tuesday 10th?March?at 10am.??