PRESS BRIEFING BY BRENDEN VARMA, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT VOLKAN BOZKIR
PRESIDENTS OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY & SECURITY COÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵCIL TO JOINTLY LAÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵCH SECRETARY-GENERAL SELECTION & APPOINTMENT PROCESS
- This afternoon, the Presidents of the General Assembly and Security Council plan to sign a joint letter on the Secretary-General selection and appointment process. They have now agreed on the text.
- After the signature, the letter will be sent to Member States, and at that point, it will be posted on the President¡¯s web site ¨C in the ¡®letters¡¯ section. The letter will officially launch the selection and appointment process.
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COORDINATION MEETING OF TOP U.N. OFFICIALS TO BE HELD THIS AFTERNOON
- The President will hold his regular coordination meeting this afternoon with his Security Council counterpart and the Secretary-General. The United Kingdom currently holds the Security Council presidency.
- Expected topics of discussion include the Security Council¡¯s monthly programme of work, the President¡¯s #Vaccines4All initiative, Security Council reform and famine.
- Other possible themes include upcoming mandated General Assembly meetings on Syria, including a high-level panel on the situation of human rights (2 March); an informal plenary meeting on the human rights and humanitarian situation; and a report presentation by the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM).
- They may also discuss global political developments, such as Myanmar and the Special Envoy¡¯s envisioned briefing to the General Assembly on that topic, and Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
- The meeting will be held in person at 3:30 p.m.
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PRESIDENT GETS VACCINE & SUPPORTS VACCINATIONS FOR U.N. DELEGATIONS & PERSONNEL
- Asked whether Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ ambassadors and top Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ officials would be able to get COVID-19 vaccines, the Spokesperson noted that the President had gotten the first dose of his vaccine yesterday. The President had been eligible as a New York resident over the age of 65 and had applied online through the New York State Department of Health ¡°just like everybody else.¡±
- Regarding Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ ambassadors and other Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ officials, the Spokesperson said the President had made his position clear at his last press conference. Specifically, the President considered Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ personnel and delegations to be ¡°essential workers¡± and therefore wished to see them get vaccinated. Discussions were ongoing in that regard.
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ACCESS TO EDUCATION SHOULD BE PART OF PANDEMIC RECOVERY PLANS
- The President with Alice Albright, CEO of the Global Partnership for Education. They discussed common priorities such as gender equality, girls¡¯ education and ensuring universal access to inclusive, quality education as a part of COVID-19 recovery plans.
- The President noted that investing in education is an investment in our shared future and critical to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4.
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FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION HAS NO PLACE IN SOCIETY
- Tomorrow is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. In 2012, the General Assembly adopted its first ever resolution against female genital mutilation ¨C a practice which can lead to health issues, including chronic pain, infection, increased risk of HIV transmission, anxiety, depression, birth complications, infertility, and in some cases, death.
- In a , the President says that female genital mutilation has no place in society and is internationally recognized as an extreme violation of the rights of women and girls.
- He calls on all Member States to take urgent steps to eliminate it, adding that this is no time for global inaction.
