PRESS BRIEFING BY MONICA VILLELA GRAYLEY, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
Good afternoon! Thank you very much, Stephanie. I have a short briefing for your today and we will start with a travel announcement.
The President of the General Assembly will travel to Dubai, Male and Belgrade
The President of the General Assembly, Mr. Abdulla Shahid, will travel to the United Arab Emirates, the Maldives, and Serbia from 1 October to 13 October 2021.
Mr. Shahid will leave New York in the evening after speaking to you here at his first Press Conference at 11 am.
The three-country trip will reinforce the priorities of the ¡®Presidency of Hope¡¯, particularly around environmental action ahead of COP26 in Glasgow ¨C and efforts to recover sustainably from COVID-19, including insuring access to vaccines.
The President will first travel to the United Arab Emirates from 1 to 6 October 2021, on invitation of the UAE Government, where he will take part in several events at the Dubai World Expo 2020, on climate change and biodiversity.?
During his visit, the PGA will meet with officials of the Government of the United Arab Emirates, deliver remarks at four Expo events, engage with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and the United Nations Country Team, and tour the Dubai International Humanitarian City.
The President¡¯s engagements in UAE align with his priorities on delivering urgent climate action, addressing the needs of the planet, recovering from the pandemic, and rebuilding sustainably.
The PGA will also meet with young people, women groups and will grant interviews on his Presidency.
All costs relating to the travel of the President to the UAE are to be borne by the Government of United Arab Emirates.
From 6 October to 9 October, the PGA will be in the Maldives on invitation of the country¡¯s government.
Mr. Shahid is expected to meet with the country¡¯s President, H.E. Mr. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the Vice President, Chief Justice, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, and Ministers, and discuss ways to strengthen the voice of Small Island Developing States in topics such as climate adaptation and financing ahead of COP-26.?
Other topics are peace and security, recovery from COVID-19 as well as vaccine equity. Mr. Shahid will also meet the United Nations Country Team, in Maldives.
All travel costs will be covered by the Government of Maldives.
The last part of his trip will be in Belgrade, Republic of Serbia, from 10 to 12 October 2021, at the joint invitation from the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Serbia.
The PGA will speak at the opening of the High-Level Commemorative Meeting to mark the 60th Anniversary of the First Conference of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and meet with Government Officials, representatives of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Country Team and other stakeholders. He will return to New York on 13 October. In Serbia, all travel costs will be covered by the OPGA¡¯s Trust Fund and by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.
Mr. Shahid¡¯s Delegation to Serbia includes his Deputy Chef de Cabinet, a Senior Advisor, a Digital Media Communications Consultant, his Executive Secretary and a Security Liaison Officer.
Further details will be provided to you soon.
Third Committee of the GA to start work for the 76th Session
This afternoon, PGA Shahid will speak at the opening of the work of the Third Committee on Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs, at 3 pm.
The Third Committee is chaired by H.E. Mohamed Siad Doualeh, the Permanent Representative of Djibouti.
For the PGA: ¡°the Third Committee is the bedrock of delivering concrete improvements for the lives of the people we serve. Enhancing consensus and cooperation in its work is paramount to strengthening the trust of people in the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ system and in multilateralism.¡±
The five remaining committees of the GA are expected to start their work in the next weeks.
The GA will hold high level meetings on Trafficking in Persons and Global Road Safety, as well as the First International Migration Review Forum.
The Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries will be held in Doha in January, and Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all in June.
The second Oceans Conference will take place in Lisbon in June. The event is co-organized by Kenya and Portugal.
?PGA to hold first Press Conference on 1 October at the Press Briefing Room
On 1 October 2021, the President of the General Assembly (PGA) H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, will hold his first Press Conference from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm in the Press Briefing Room (S-0237) on the second floor at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Secretariat building.
PGA Shahid will brief the media on the highlights/outcome of the High-Level Week, agenda for the forthcoming weeks and official trips to Dubai, Male and Belgrade.
The PGA has developed his agenda for the 76th Session based on his Five Rays of Hope: recovering from COVID-19, rebuilding sustainably, responding to the needs of the planet, respecting the rights of all people, and revitalizing the United Nations.
The Press Conference will be broadcast by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Web TV with an interactive element for Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ accredited correspondents.
PGA¡¯S Agenda
On Mr. Shahid¡¯s Agenda today: He met this morning with the President of the Security Council for the month of October, H.E. Mr. Martin Kimani. As we speak, Mr. Shahid is receiving at his office, the Ambassador of Jordan, H.E. Mahmoud al-Hamoud.
On our website: we are still bringing it together, so please bear with us in regard with information that is not there yet, and feel free to let me know if you need anything. On your requests for interview, we are trying to organise some individual interviews after the PGA returns to New York.
Former Spokesperson Ms. Amy Quantrill
Before I conclude, since we are resuming our daily briefings here today, I would like to thank my predecessor, the Spokesperson for the 75th Session of the General Assembly, Ms. Amy Quantrill, for all support and cooperation which she so kindly offered to our team during the transition period.
Amy did a great job as spokesperson. She has now returned to her post as a diplomat in the UK Mission, so we wish her all the best.
This is all we have for today. Do you have any questions?
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