NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS BY PAULINA KUBIAK GREER,
SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
United Nations Headquarters, New York
UKRAINE
Let me start with the General Assembly Emergency Special Session on Ukraine.
The Special Session started this morning with a moment of silence. This is a procedural part for every new session.
The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, spoke first. He said quote ¡°the strength of this Assembly is rooted in its moral authority. Let¡¯s demonstrate that moral courage and use today¡¯s debate not to whip up war rhetoric, but to give peace a chance.¡±
The President renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire, for all parties to exercise maximum restrain, and for a full return to diplomacy and dialogue.
And you have the full speech in your inbox and posted on the website.
The Secretary-General spoke second. As you heard from Stephane.
Member States then spoke, starting with Ukraine and Russia.
I have shared the espeakers list
As of a short time ago, there were 107 [now 111] speakers expected in the Emergency Special Session.
I have been asked about the draft resolution that is reportedly in the works.
There is a draft resolution entitled ¡°Aggression Against Ukraine¡± which has been initiated.
It is open for e-Sponsorship. The draft was initiated by Ukraine, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Fiji, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Turkey.
Another question that I have been getting is when the last Emergency Special Session was held.
This is the 11th Emergency Special Session.
The last one was in 2018, and it was in connection with Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territory. That one was requested by Member States.
The Emergency Special Session on Ukraine underway today was requested by the Security Council.
The last time that the Security Council requested an Emergency Special Session was in 1982 on Golan.
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Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ CONFERNCE ON LDCs
In terms of the afternoon schedule, at 3PM, the General Assembly will it¡¯s 60th plenary meeting. Member States will vote on resolutions related to Stockholm+50. There is also a resolution on the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Conference on Least Developed Countries. If approved, the Conference will be divided into two parts. The first held in New York on 17 March. The second to be held in Doha in March of 2023. [Resolution was approved].
The GA will then resume the Emergency Special Session. Given the number of speakers, we expect the debate to extend into Tuesday and possibly Wednesday.
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HUMAR RIGHTS COÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵCIL
As you know, President Shahid had been expected to be in Geneva today, where he would have spoken at the opening of the Human Rights Council. The trip was canceled to focus on Ukraine.
The President¡¯s remarks were delivered by a recorded message instead.
The President said that upholding human rights and dignity are at the core of all his priorities and initiatives.
He noted that ¡°all human rights are universal, indivisible, and mutually reinforcing. All human rights must be treated in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis, in line with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.¡±
One of the issues that the President highlighted in his speech is the need to tackle racism and other forms of discrimination.
He noted the commemorative meeting in September of last year on the 20th anniversary of Durban,¡ and recalled that Heads of State and Government reaffirmed to make the first against racism and protection of its victims a high national priority.
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IPCC
And the President of the General Assembly is aware of today¡¯s climate change report.
I expect to have a written statement from the President in reaction to the launch of the IPCC report later today.
SPOKESPERSON
The Spokesperson clarified that the resolution submitted in the General Assembly is not the same as the vetoed resolution in the Security Council.
The Spokesperson was asked whether the draft GA resolution under ¡°Uniting for Peace¡± would be binding like the Security Council or non-binding like General Assembly resolutions. The Spokesperson answered that the text of the draft resolution is not readily available so would not comment.
The President was asked about the bilateral on Saturday with the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjarto. The journalist said that Hungary had offered to host peace talks on Ukraine. The Spokesperson said that readouts are usually put out from bilaterals. If one is not available, she would try to get some information on what was discussed. [The Spokesperson followed up by email to confirm that the readout would be issued soon.]
The Spokesperson was asked about the weight of the ¡°Uniting for Peace¡± resolution and to clarify the delegation of power from the Security Council to the General Assembly. The Spokesperson suggested that an OPGA colleague be included in a future briefing who could provide more information on this issue.