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

United Nations Headquarters, New York

16 February 2021

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PRESIDENT CLOSELY FOLLOWING DEVELOPMENTS IN MYANMAR

  • The President that he is in contact with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener and closely following developments in Myanmar.
  • He urged the military to allow Ms. Schraner Burgener to visit, assess the situation and brief the General Assembly accordingly. He said, ¡°It¡¯s not too late to listen to the will of the people.¡±

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GENDER ADVISORY GROUP HOLDS 2ND MEETING

  • This morning, the President is convening the second meeting of his Gender Advisory Group. The meeting is currently underway.
  • In line with a recommendation made at the group¡¯s last meeting, he is speaking about enhancing the relationship between the General Assembly and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
  • He is listening to the group¡¯s perspectives on recent trends and actions related to the Beijing Declaration and achieving equality for women in all spheres.
  • This morning he also welcomed Ambassador Alie Kabba of Sierra Leone, who just joined the group as the newly elected President of the Bureau of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Women Executive Board, replacing Ambassador Jukka Salovaara of Finland.
  • Other expected topics of discussion include engaging with women¡¯s civil society organizations, violence against women, and links between the private sector and gender?equality?issues.

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PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES NEW HEAD OF WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

  • On Twitter yesterday, the President to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on making ¡°herstory¡± as the first African and first woman Director-General of the World Trade Organization.
  • He said that a strong multilateral trading system is key to ensuring an inclusive and sustainable global economic recovery ¨C and that he looks forward to working together.