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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

28 October 2020

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ASSEMBLY¡¯S IN-PERSON MEETINGS CANCELLED THIS WEEK DUE TO COVID-19 INFECTIONS

  • Yesterday evening, the President wrote?a second letter to the membership?in connection with the five COVID-19 infections at a Mission of a Member State.
  • He noted that he had received a letter from the Secretary-General recommending that in-person meetings be suspended until the end of the week in order to allow for a better understanding of the extent of the exposure and for full contact tracing to be completed.
  • Accordingly, after consulting with the Chairs of the Main Committees, and to safeguard public health, all in-person meetings of the Plenary and Main Committees of the General Assembly are cancelled this week.
  • The General Assembly Plenary was supposed to hold two meetings this week. It was to consider the report of the International Court of Justice tomorrow ¨C and the report of the Human Rights Council on Friday. Those meetings are now postponed.
  • The First Committee, which covers disarmament, was supposed to vote on all resolutions this week ¨C in person. The Fourth Committee ¨C or Special Political & Decolonization Committee ¨C also had plans to meet in person. Those two committees have therefore had to postpone their work this week.
  • The Second Committee, which handles economic and financial matters, and the Third Committee, which covers social, humanitarian and cultural issues, had originally been planning to work virtually this week. So, their work is unaffected.
  • The Sixth Committee ¨C or Legal Committee ¨C will continue to hold virtual negotiations, as originally planned. And its Bureau will meet this afternoon to reschedule their cancelled in-person meetings.

PRESIDENT URGES MEMBER STATES TO PAY DUES IN FULL & ON TIME

  • The Fifth Committee, which handles budgetary matters, cancelled its in-person meeting this morning and met virtually instead to hear?a statement delivered by the President.
  • The President told Fifth Committee delegates that the Secretary-General had, on several occasions, expressed to him concern about the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ¡¯s financial situation and its ability to meet its ongoing financial obligations.
  • The President said he shared these concerns and urged all Member States to pay their dues in full and on time.
  • He added that, during the high-level period, the message from world leaders was clear. International cooperation and effective multilateral action are essential to confront COVID-19. ?So, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ needs a predictable financial basis to do that.
  • With today¡¯s statement, the President has now addressed all Main Committees of the General Assembly.

SPECIAL SESSION ON COVID-19: ACTION ON RESOLUTION EXPECTED ON 5 NOVEMBER

  • In response to a question related to the General Assembly special session on COVID-19, the Spokesperson confirmed that silence had been broken on the?draft modalities resolution?and that consultations were ongoing.
  • He added, ¡°We are still working towards action on the resolution on 5 November, and that would give us four weeks to make arrangements for the special session.¡±