PRESS BRIEFING
BY MONICA GRAYLEY,?
SPOKESPERSON FOR?GENERAL ASSEMBLY?
PRESIDENT DENNIS FRANCIS
United Nations Headquarters, New York
23 August 2024
?
Good afternoon, everyone!
PGA CIRCULATES DETAILS OF HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
The President of the General Assembly, Mr. Dennis Francis, has written to Member States with a concept note and logistics details for the High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance.
The event, scheduled for 26 September, in New York, will be held under the theme: ¡°Investing in the present and securing our future together: accelerating multisectoral global, regional and national actions to address antimicrobial resistance.¡±
Member States, observers of the General Assembly, representatives of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ System, civil society, non-governmental organizations, academia, the private sector and persons affected by AMR, among others, are expected to attend the meeting.
On 15 May, the PGA held a multi-stakeholder hearing, which was attended by over 300 stakeholders from across the globe. They discussed stakeholder perspectives, experiences and recommendations on urgent actions and investments necessary to accelerate progress toward addressing global health challenges and the threat of AMR.
In his letter, President Francis informed Member States and other participants that the High-level Meeting will consist of an opening segment, a plenary, two interactive multi-stakeholder panels, and a closing segment.
The meeting will start at 10 a.m. and is expected to conclude at 6 p.m. on 26 September.
Panel 1 will address the urgent antimicrobial resistance crisis across the human, animal, plant, and environmental sectors through equity, access, building awareness, and innovation.
Panel 2 will discuss human health, animal health and welfare, agrifood systems, and protecting the environment to tackle antimicrobial resistance, through integrated surveillance, capacity-building, sustainable resources, financing, and investment.
The high-level meeting is expected to approve a concise and action-oriented political declaration with?a shared vision including the consideration of measurable targets and objectives on mobilizing political will and action to address?the drivers, sources and challenges of antimicrobial resistance, agreed in advance by consensus through intergovernmental negotiations, to be submitted by the President of the General Assembly for adoption by the Assembly.
In 2016 the first high-level meeting on AMR resulted in a political declaration that laid the foundation for global action against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
According to the World Health Organization, AMR is one of the top global public health and development threats. It is estimated that bacterial AMR was directly responsible for 1.27?million global deaths in 2019.
The World Bank estimates that it could result in US$?1?trillion additional healthcare costs by 2050, and up to US$?3.4?trillion gross domestic product (GDP) losses per year by 2030.
ON INTERNATIONAL DAY, PGA PAYS TRIBUTE TO INDIVIDUALS WHO FOUGHT AGAINST SLAVE TRADE
President Dennis Francis issued a post on his X social media account to mark this International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.
The PGA said that, on this day ¡°we remember the courageous individuals who fought against the brutalities of the transatlantic slave trade, forever changing the course of history.¡±
Mr. Francis also stressed that: ¡°their struggle reminds us of the enduring power of the human spirit in the face of oppression.¡±
The PGA invited all ¡°to honor their legacy by continuing the fight for equality and justice, ensuring that such atrocities are?never?repeated.¡±
TWO STUDENTS FROM NEW YORK PUBLIC SCHOOL ASSUMED ROLE OF ¡°PGA FOR A DAY¡±
President Dennis Francis welcomed, on Thursday, for the first time in the history of Presidency¡¯s Office, two students for a full day of activities as a ¡°PGA for a Day¡±.
The exercise ¡°PGA for a Day¡± aimed to be a transformative and enriching experience for the two New York-based students.
Under President Francis’s mentorship, they participated in meetings, interacted with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ officials, and gained insights into the responsibilities of international leadership and the challenges of diplomacy. They spoke to the press here in an impromptu press conference accompanied by President Francis and concluded the day asking questions to the PGA and being introduced to the GA Hall.
The students attend the New York City Public School¡¯s Global Leaders Academy programme. They were selected by their respective schools, based on their academic excellence and after an essay contest on the Sustainable Development Goals and the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ work.
The PGAs for a Day were Ms. Fariha Akter, 15 years old, from Bangladesh, who? attends the?Bronx Center?for Science and Mathematics in the Bronx, and Mr. Erik Ponomarev, 16 years old, from Russia, who goes to Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn.
They also met with the Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, Mr. Felipe Paullier, and Mr. Daniel del Valle Blanco, Chair of Youth Advisory to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Habitat and former Ambassador of the International Youth Organization to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ.
On our YouTube channel, you will have the entire press conference. You can later read a story on Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ News English website.
We will post more information across the PGA¡¯s social media channels and on his YouTube channel .
PRESIDENT FRANCIS TO GRANT A PRESS CONFERENCE ON 9 SEPTEMBER TO WRAP UP HIS TERM
As we flagged on Monday, the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Dennis Francis, will hold a Press Conference on Monday, 9 September, from 11a.m. to 12 p.m., in this Press Conference Briefing Room.
This will be his last meeting with you as President of the 78th session of the General Assembly. To the ones who were not here in the room yesterday, when the PGA made a surprise appearance, you will have the chance to ask your questions.
Mr. Francis will speak about the main achievements of this current session including the first-ever Sustainability Week, his emphasis on sea-level rise, the outcome of the 10th Emergency Special Session, his Advisory Boards on Gender Equality and on Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Least Developed Countries, and Small Island Developing States, among other topics.
More information will be made available soon.
This is all for today. Do you have any questions?
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