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PRESS BRIEFING BY BRENDEN VARMA, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT VOLKAN BOZKIR

COVID-19 REMINDS US OF NEED TO ACT ON GLOBAL GOALS, PRESIDENT SAYS

• This morning, the President delivered remarks at the SDG Moment, a General Assembly-mandated event.
• He said, ¡°Progress on the SDGs was inconsistent and off-course well before COVID-19 shook the world. The pandemic has unveiled the dangers inherent in delay. It has reminded us, starkly, of the need to act.¡±
• He said, ¡°We must look to 2030 with renewed vigor. The pandemic may have set us back, but it can also be the board from which we bounce back further and faster.¡±

ASSEMBLY ADOPTS AGENDA FOR 75^TH SESSION, VOTES TO INCLUDE ITEM ON ¡°RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT¡±

• This morning the General Assembly adopted its agenda for the 75th session.
• There are 183 agenda items in total, including?eleven new items or sub-items.
• These new items and sub-items cover topics including but not limited to:?¡°Promoting investments for sustainable development¡±; ¡°Global Code of Ethics for Tourism¡±;?“Crimes against humanity¡±;?“Joint courses of action and future-oriented dialogue towards a world without nuclear weapons”; and “Strengthening and developing the system of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation treaties and agreements¡±.
• A vote took place on the recommendation by the General Committee to include in the agenda an item entitled ¡°The responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity¡±. The vote tally was 101 in favor to 13 against with 22 abstentions. Thus, the item has been included in the agenda of the 75^th session.
• Asked which 13 Member States voted against including the item, the Spokesperson later added that they were: Belarus; China; Cuba; Democratic People¡¯s Republic of Korea; Egypt; Eritrea; Iran; Kyrgyzstan; Myanmar; Nicaragua; Russian Federation; South Sudan; and Syrian Arab Republic.

PRESIDENT HOSTS COORDINATION MEETING TO BRING TOGETHER U.N. ORGANS

• There was a coordination this afternoon between the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, and the Presidents of the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council.
• This first meeting happened at the initiative of President Bozkir. The idea is to coordinate activities across the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ so that it can deliver better.

SPOKESPERSON SHARES LOGISTICAL DETAILS RELATED TO HIGH-LEVEL PERIOD

• Regarding logistics related to the General Assembly¡¯s upcoming high-level period, physical access and presence in the General Assembly Hall during the General Debate and the High-level meeting to commemorate the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ¡¯s seventy-fifth anniversary will be limited to one representative per Member State and observer State and for the European Union.
• In the case of pre-recorded statements, the time limit established for the General Debate is fifteen minutes. That will include the introductory remarks by the delegate in the room and the video itself.
• For the High-level meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary, the time limit is three minutes for individual delegations and five minutes on behalf of groups.
• In response to questions asked the previous day about how the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ would handle any potential COVID-19 spread in the General Assembly Hall during high-level week, the Spokesperson said that, according to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Department of Operational Support, there is a plan for case management and contact tracing, but details of how that will be done are dependent on the situation. Release of information and related aspects will be discussed with senior management at the time.
• Also asked if extra hand sanitizer would be provided in the General Assembly Hall during the high-level period, the Spokesperson said that, additional sanitizer dispensers will be placed on stands in the wings on the side of the General Assembly Hall. The Permanent Mission of Malta is also donating care packages for all delegates containing masks and sanitizer, which will be made available outside the Hall on a table in the Chinese Lounge.
• In response to a further question, the Spokesperson said that, according to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ medical colleagues, there was no scientific evidence that temperature checks are of any value and they are therefore not part of the process at present.
• Asked about potential cyberattacks during the General Debate, the Spokesperson noted that video messages were meant to be pre-recorded as opposed to live transmissions. He said that, according to colleagues in the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Office of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), given the increased reliance on digital solutions for the General Debate, the Organization has further strengthened the security and resilience of the ICT systems and networks used to support the events. Measures include the provisioning of additional bandwidth, monitoring capacity as well as additional technical security solutions.
• Asked the previous day about a Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ75 luncheon, the Spokesperson confirmed that there is no luncheon planned. That had been an idea that was being discussed in the pre-COVID-19 era.
• Asked how rights of reply would be handled, the Spokesperson said that there were no changes to the rules of procedure. Rights of reply could be done in person at the end of the day or at the end of the General Debate ¨C except those to the statement of a Head of State, which would need to be in writing for circulation as an Assembly document.
• Asked whether the United States had already submitted a pre-recorded video for the High-level meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ75), the Spokesperson said he was not in a position to confirm whether any specific Member State videos had been received. He encouraged the journalist to contact the US Mission.
• Asked whether President Trump would be coming physically to the General Debate, the Spokesperson said he had not seen any official indication to that effect. He urged the journalist to follow up with the US Mission.
• Asked if the President would cut off videos during the General Debate that went past the 15-minute time limit, the Spokesperson said he was not aware of any firm policy on that.
• Asked whether he would be holding his daily press briefings during the high-level period, the Spokesperson said he would ¨C with the exception of 22 and 23 September, which were the first two days of the General Debate.
• Asked about analysis by the Office of the President of trends that emerged from world leaders¡¯ video messages, the Spokesperson said that the General Debate was special in that it allowed people to get a snapshot of what world leaders were thinking and what their areas of concern were. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) normally prepared a report on such trends. However, it would probably not be ready by the end of the General Debate. The President¡¯s Office would, for its part, compile some of its own statistics, and if they were ready in time, the President might refer to some of the findings in his closing speech.
• Asked for Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ75 speakers lists, the Spokesperson later shared the lists for the opening plenary and the plenary session. Asked whether the President of the General Assembly would speak first on 21 September, the Spokesperson said yes, as the President was convening the meeting.
• Asked whether there would be any further changes to the provisional list of speakers for the General Debate, the Spokesperson said the list had just been revised yesterday. He was not aware of any further expected changes, but if there were, another list would be distributed through the normal channels.
• Asked when exactly the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ75 declaration would be adopted on 21 September, the Spokesperson later said that would happen at the end of the opening plenary, right at around 10:00 a.m.
• Responding to a question about whether delegates would introduce their leaders¡¯ videos in the General Debate from the rostrum, the Spokesperson said that, no, delegates would remain at their seats while introducing the videos.
• Asked how rights of reply would be handled, the Spokesperson later said that there were no changes to the rules of procedure. Rights of replies could be done in person at the end of the day or at the end of the General Debate ¨C except those to the statement of a Head of State, which would need to be in writing for circulation as an Assembly document.
• Asked what ¡°CD¡± stands for on the speakers list, the Spokesperson said it was ¡°Chief of Delegation.¡±
• Asked what would happen with the videos if a health scare caused everyone to leave the General Assembly Hall, the Spokesperson said that he could not answer hypothetical questions and noted that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ operational support colleagues had contingency plans in place for a wide variety of scenarios.
• Asked whether there was a timeframe for returning to in-person high-level meetings, the Spokesperson said the President would like to see a return to the normal functioning of the General Assembly. But of course he would be guided by how the COVID-19 situation evolved, as well as the health guidelines put forth by the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Secretariat and New York.