NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS BY PAULINA KUBIAK GREER,
SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
United Nations Headquarters, New York

 

UKRAINE

?I wanted to start with the situation in Ukraine.

The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, today reiterates the call for protection of civilians and civilian facilities.

He extends his thanks to the countries who have taken in the reported 2.5 million refugees and third-party nationals from Ukraine.

He looks forward to receiving the report of the Emergency Relief Coordinator on the humanitarian situation, in line with the resolution passed at the 11th Emergency Special Session.

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PANDEMIC

?Turning to the COVID pandemic.

Today marks two years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, notes that the pandemic is not over.

While we in New York are emerging out of the pandemic, there are cities and countries around the world that are today tightening restrictions due to surging rates of infection.

Just two weeks ago, the President convened a High-level thematic dialogue on galvanizing momentum for universal COVID-19 vaccination. The Heads of State and Government, Member States, principals of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ agencies, civil society, frontline workers and goodwill ambassadors that took part all echoed his call of solidarity.

Let me reiterate his call that vaccine inequity is immoral, and it is impractical. The only way to end the pandemic is to vaccinate and stop the virus.

The President is also using today as an occasion to extend his sympathies to families and friends who lost loved ones during the pandemic. The official death toll surpassed 6 million just this week.

He would also like to again thank all the healthcare responders for their work around the clock since the pandemic started.

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HOLHUASHI

Turning to events at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Headquarters.

This morning, President Shahid hosted his 7th Holhuashi dialogue on the topic of ¡°women, peace and security¡±.

Despite the historical exclusion of women from the peace table, a growing body of evidence shows women¡¯s contributions to conflict prevention and resolution reduce conflict and improve stability, the President said.

 

OUR COMMON AGENDA

Today is the second and last day of the Our Common Agenda on the theme of enhancing international cooperation.

There are two fireside chats. The one this morning with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ partners is moderated by Ulrika Modeer, an Assistant Secretary-General with the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Development Programme.

This afternoon, Maggie Besheer, from the Voice of America, will be the moderator.

This is the fifth and final Our Common Agenda consultation.

President Abdulla Shahid and Secretary-General Ant¨®nio Guterres will speak in the Trusteeship this afternoon at around 4:45PM to formally close the consultations.

 

DISARMAMENT

And ending with one more anniversary.

Today marks 11 years since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and the Fukishima nuclear crisis.

The Office of the President pays tribute to the victims.

The anniversary is an important reminder about the need to scale up tsunami preparedness. And the importance of ensuring safe operations of nuclear facilities.

 

QUESTIONS

There were no questions for the Spokesperson.