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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

24 September 2020

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PRESIDENT PLEASED THAT ¡®BEIJING+25¡¯ CONFERENCE WILL OPEN WITH 2 WOMEN PRESIDENTS?

  • The high-level meeting on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women ¨C also known as Beijing+25 ¨C will be held one week from today ¨C on Thursday, 1 October.
  • The provisional list of speakers is?available here.
  • The President is pleased to see the event opening with two women Presidents. Those would be the Presidents of the European Commission and Ethiopia.
  • We expect the final list to come out tomorrow, and it will be posted at?, in the ¡°letters¡± section.


INCREASED TRUST IN INERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM WILL ADVANCE EFFORTS TO MEET GLOBAL GOALS, PRESIDENT SAYS

  • The President delivered?virtual remarks?this morning at the launch of the Interim Report of the High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda.
  • The FACTI Panel, as it is known, is convened by the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Economic and Social Council ¨C and supported by an independent secretariat.
  • In his speech, the President stressed the need to create ¡°a global economic system characterized by financial accountability, transparency, and integrity¡± ¨C as this would increase trust and reliance upon the international financial system ¨C and thereby advance efforts to achieve the SDGs.
  • Asked what the President thought of the report and its references to prevalent corruption and money laundering around the world, the Spokesperson said he had no specific comments on the report¡¯s contents. He later added that, in his speech, the President had said that his office would review the initial findings and recommendations carefully.
  • Also in his speech, the President had said the FACTI Panel¡¯s analysis provided today, and the final recommendations to be presented next year, would contribute to the dialogue on the special session on corruption in 2021. And the President hoped that the international community recognized today¡¯s report as a first step towards greater financial accountability, transparency and integrity.

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GENERAL DEBATE CONTINUES INTO 3rd DAY, HEARING FROM MORE THAN 30 HEADS OF STATE

  • Today is the third day of the?. Seventeen Heads of State were slated to speak by video in the 8th plenary meeting this morning.
  • The 9th plenary meeting will continue at 3:00 p.m. On the speakers list are 15 Heads of State and 1 Vice-President.
  • Asked if and when the high-level meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations would resume, the Spokesperson noted that only 122 speakers had been able to speak on 21 September. Fifty-five speakers were left on the list. Thus, the meeting would continue in the near future. The Spokesperson noted that Tuesday 29 September was being considered as an option, after the end of the General Debate that day ¨C although this date had not yet been confirmed.
  • Responding to a question about a right of reply from China during the General Debate, the Spokesperson said the President¡¯s office had received a request from China to circulate its right of reply as a General Assembly document. The President¡¯s office would ask China to send this request to the Secretary-General as per procedures.
  • Asked how the President felt about the fact that some world leaders were not respecting the 15-minute time limit for their videos, the Spokesperson said the time limit was a suggestion from the President, and it was up to Heads of State and Government to follow that guidance. He noted that the President had not been cutting off any videos after 15 minutes. He added that the General Debate was the forum for world leaders to express themselves, so the President would happily allow them to do that.