NOON BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS
Spokesperson for General Assembly President Csaba K?r?si
United Nations Headquarters, New York
Thursday, 11 May 2023
?
MIDDLE INCOME COÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵTRIES
President Csaba K?r?si spoke this morning to the high-level meeting on Middle-Income Countries.
The President called these 110 countries ¡°central drivers of global development¡± ¨C noting that they represent three-quarters of the world¡¯s population and nearly one-third of its GDP.
He raised the importance of the SDG Summit this September for the Middle-Income Countries.
The majority of the extreme poor live in these countries, so the topic of debt relief is particularly important.
He spoke about various debt relief instruments, such as debt-for-climate or debt-for-nature.
He also made the case ¨C as you¡¯ve heard him say before ¨C that GDP does not measure development, and it¡¯s time for the international community to create a measurement of more balanced growth.
The President also called for equitable access to new technologies, science and innovation that spur resilience in Middle-Income Countries.
You have his full remarks online and in your inboxes: /pga/77/2023/05/11/pga-remarks-to-high-level-meeting-on-middle-income-countries/
The meeting started at 10AM ET, and will continue after lunch, at 3PM.
?
BILATERALS
In terms of bilaterals, the President is meeting today with Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith, the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh. This is in the context of South-South Cooperation.
He will this afternoon be meeting with the co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council reform, Ambassador Tareq Albanai, the Permanent Representative of Kuwait, and Ambassador Alexander Marschik, the Permanent Representative of Austria.
The President met with the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, which is a partnership hosted by the NYU Centre on International Cooperation.
?
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ WATER CONFERENCE
A note on the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Water Conference, as you know the President was mandated to produce a summary of the Conference.
That summary was shared with Member States on Friday of last week.
It is a great analysis of the discussions, the Water Action Agenda and the gamechangers.
It is available online at: /pga/77/2023/05/08/letter-from-the-president-of-the-general-assembly-water-for-sustainable-development-conference-summary/
?
CAMPAIGN
And we wanted to highlight additional Member States who have signed on to the President¡¯s campaign to support gender equality.
Staff at these Permanent Missions of Costa Rica and Hungary have pledged to complete the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ training on promoting gender equality and preventing sexual harassment.
?
QUESTIONS
There were no questions for the Spokesperson.