Transcript?of the Press Briefing by the Spokesperson of the President of the General Assembly
21 January 2025
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today¡¯s briefing?
?Good afternoon, everyone,?
Statement on ceasefire between Israel and Hamas?
The President of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly H.E. Philemon Yang welcomes the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. He calls on all parties to fully respect and implement the terms of the agreement and stresses that the ceasefire must hold firm and lead to a lasting halt of the fighting.???
Appointments?
The President of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly has appointed H.E. Maurizio Massari, Permanent Representative of Italy and H.E. Hoang Giang Dang, Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to lead an intergovernmental process on the scope and modalities of the high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response in 2026.?
Please note that the President has appointed H.E. Sophie De Smedt, the new Permanent Representative of Belgium, as co-facilitator of the intergovernmental negotiations on a concise, action-oriented political declaration of the World Social Summit. H.E. De Smedt succeeds Richard Philippe Kridelka who has completed his term.??
The other co-facilitator is H.E.Omar Hilale, the Permanent Representative of Morocco. ?
The President of General Assembly has also appointed H.E.? Erastus ¡®Lokaale¡¯, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya and H.E. Rytis Paulauskas, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Lithuania, as co-facilitators of the intergovernmental consultations to finalize the modalities for the overall review by the General Assembly of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society.?
In the Week Ahead?
Next Monday 27 January, there will be intergovernmental consultations on the text of the zero-draft declaration for the 2025 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Ocean Conference.??
On Tuesday 28 January, there will be an informal interactive dialogue on Preserving human dignity in armed conflict. Preserving human dignity in armed conflict is one of the President¡¯s priorities. This dialogue, held in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross, will seek to raise awareness of the importance of compliance with international humanitarian law in preserving human dignity during armed conflict.??
There is a dedicated webpage on the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly¡¯s website on the event Preserving Human Dignity in Armed Conflict | General Assembly of the United Nations?
As a reminder, today and tomorrow, there are informal meetings on the intergovernmental negotiations with regard to the reform of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Security Council. There will also be a thematic debate on strengthening the accountability, transparency and institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly on Thursday.??
Pact for the Future Interactive Dialogues?
We also wanted to point out that President Yang will convene a series of informal interactive dialogues to support the implementation of the Pact for the Future. These dialogues will serve as a platform for Member States to exchange views, share best practices and ideas on implementation efforts. The interactive dialogues will focus on means of implementation and monitoring and evaluation. The first dialogue will take place in March. We will share the link in our note to you.?
Highlights at the General Assembly?
Lastly, we launched last Friday Highlights at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly. This one stop shop will be shared on a weekly basis to capture key moments at the General Assembly, including the work of Member States and the President of the General Assembly.?
Question:?Hi, Sharon, since you’ve mentioned about Pact?for the Future, we know that it is one of the most important issues to tackling climate crisis. Yet the newly new US President Trump just said that US is going to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.? I’m just wondering whether [there is] anything the President of the General Assembly has to say about this issue. ?
?Response: Well, first thing in terms of joining the Pact, , sorry, the Paris Agreement, it signals a commitment by all countries to address climate change. And as we all know, the climate emergency is actually exacerbating and more important than ever, is moving forward with the Paris Agreement. The President of the General Assembly encourages all countries to be engaged in the Paris Agreement. ?
Question: But does he feel disappointed that the biggest emitter withdraws from?the agreement? What are we going to do now? ?
Response: He wants all countries to be part of the Paris Agreement, and he will continue reiterating his call that all countries need to be engaged so that we are able to address this climate emergency.?
Media Contacts?
Sharon Birch, Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly, Tel: + 212 963 0564, M: +1 646 342 5873, Email: birchs@un.org?
Dr. Mariam Shaikh, Adviser/ Social and Digital Media/Media Relations M: +1 917 3614990, mariam.shaikh@un.org?
More Information and Updates?: Website: ???: ??: Resolutions of the 79th Session – Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly