PRESS BRIEFING
BY MONICA GRAYLEY,?
SPOKESPERSON FOR?GENERAL ASSEMBLY?
PRESIDENT DENNIS FRANCIS
United Nations Headquarters, New York
16 August 2024
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Good afternoon, everyone!
PGA ISSUES CONCEPT NOTE ON SEA-LEVEL RISE HL MEETING
The President of the General Assembly, Mr. Dennis Francis, has circulated to Member States the Concept Note for the high-level meeting on Sea-Level Rise, which will take place on 25 September, at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Headquarters, under the theme ¡°Addressing the threats posed by sea level rise.¡±
The event includes an opening segment, a plenary segment, four thematic panel discussions and a brief closing segment. Mr. Francis will take part in the opening segment alongside the Secretary-General of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ, Mr. Ant¨®nio Guterres, the President of the 79th Session, Mr. Phil¨¦mon Yang, and a representative of a Member State affected by adverse effects of sea-level rise.
The multistakeholder panels will start at 10:30 a.m. with a debate on ¡°sea-level rise and its legal dimension¡±, which will be followed by ¡°adaptation, finance, and resilience in relation to sea-level rise¡±.
The third panel, which takes place at 3 p.m. will discuss ¡°livelihoods, socio-economic challenges, and culture and heritage in relation to sea-level rise¡± followed by the last debate on ¡°knowledge, data and science to inform sea-level rise risk assessments and decision making¡±.
The accelerating pace of sea-level rise is increasingly impacting coastal states. Many developing countries, especially Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) lack the needed financial resources and technical capacity to anticipate the impacts.
One of the panels will address the specific vulnerabilities of women and girls to sea-level rise and promoting their equal participation in adaptation planning and implementation.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that, by 2050, global sea levels will rise between 15 and 30 centimetres, on average, with greater increases expected in equatorial regions, particularly the Pacific.
Close to one billion people living in low-lying coastal zones will be directly affected due to rising sea levels and climate impacts.
More information on the PGA¡¯s website .
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PRESIDENT FRANCIS TO SPEAK AT EVENT ON INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY
This afternoon, the PGA will deliver remarks at the celebrations of International Youth Day.
This year, the theme is ¡°Empowering Young Persons to Foster Peace and Security for Global Citizenship¡± which aligns with the Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) agenda and reflects on progress since the adoption of Resolution 2250 by the Security Council in 2015 which recognizes youth as agents of positive change.
Mr. Francis recalls that this historic Security Council resolution also recognizes the positive role young people play in efforts to maintain international peace and security and urges Member States to consider ways to give youth a greater voice in decision-making at the local, national, regional and international levels.
The commemoration is being organized by the AFS Intercultural Programs in collaboration with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ agencies and the Permanent Mission of Malta to the United Nations.
The event will take place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Conference Room 4 and it will be by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵTV.
PRESIDENT FRANCIS TO ISSUE VIDEO MESSAGE ON WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY
The PGA will issue a video on World Humanitarian Day, which is marked on 19 August each year.
The commemorative day was established by the General Assembly in 2008 after the bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, which killed 22 humanitarian aid workers, including the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
According to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ, 2023 was the deadliest year on record for humanitarian workers and 2024 is on track to be even worse.
President Francis highlights that on this World Humanitarian Day, aid organizations ¨C from all over the world ¨C have united to call for the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel, as well as to ensure their safe and unhindered access, including across conflict lines.
Attacks on humanitarian workers and humanitarian assets must stop as well as on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
This is everything we have for today¡
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