Transcript?of the Press Briefing by the Spokesperson of the President of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly
(29 April 2025)
The following is a near-verbatim transcript?of today¡¯s briefing.?
Good afternoon, everyone?
Pakistan and India?
The President of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Philemon Yang, is deeply concerned by the escalation of violence between India and Pakistan. He extends his sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and stresses that the targeting of civilians is unacceptable and cannot be justified under any circumstances.? He calls on both parties to exercise maximum restraint and to resolve this dispute through diplomatic means.??
2025 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development?Follow-Up
Now on the 2025 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development?which took place yesterday- the opening took place yesterday-?At the opening of Forum, the President said that this year¡¯s Forum plays a pivotal role in preparing for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development. He stressed that the adoption of the Pact for the Future, last September, was a recognition of the structural impediments to fixing financing.??This transformative step boosted calls to reform the global financial system, expand international trade, and reduce inequalities, particularly in developing countries. The responsibility, he says, is now on us to deliver on these reforms.??
Meetings this week?
Today a plenary meeting of the General Assembly to pay tribute to the memory of His Holiness Pope Francis will be held at 3 pm in the General Assembly Hall.?
There is also an address by the President of the Republic of Paraguay, His Excellency Santiago Pena taking place right now in the General Assembly Hall.?
?Ahead of the high-level meeting in September 2025 on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases and the promotion of mental health and well-being, there will be an Interactive Multistakeholder hearing on 2 May in the Trusteeship Council, starting at 10 am. To note, yesterday informal consultations took place.?
There will also be intergovernmental consultations on the Independent International Scientific Panel on?Artificial Intelligence?and the Global Dialogue on?Artificial Intelligence?Governance on the same day.??
Meetings next week?
A Special solemn meeting in commemoration of all victims of the Second World War takes place on 7 May in the General Assembly Hall at 10 am.?
A joint informal interactive dialogue of the General Assembly and the Security Council with the Peacebuilding Commission on the 2025 Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture takes place on 8 May at 10 am in Conference Room 2.?
There is an interesting fact – By the late 2070s, the global population aged 65 years or older is projected to reach 2.2 billion surpassing the number of children under age 18. There will be a High-Level meeting on 8 May to exchange views and share experiences on the recommendations included in decision 14/1 of the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing. This decision addresses the identification of gaps in the protection of the human rights of older persons and proposes measures to address them. This meeting will take place in Conference Room 4 at 3 pm.?
The presentation and first informal at ambassadorial level of the Zero draft of the Political Declaration to be adopted at the World Social Summit or officially called the Second World Summit for Social Development will take place on 9 May at 10 am.? The co-facilitators of the political declaration are the Permanent Representative of Morocco, H.E. Mr. Omar Hilale and the Permanent Representative of Belgium, H.E. Ms. Sophie De Smedt.?
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 Initiative?
There will be an informal meeting of the General Assembly to hear a briefing from the Secretary-General on the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 initiative on 12 May in the Trusteeship Council starting at 11 am.??
Bilateral meetings?
The President met with H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock, Germany¡¯s candidate for President of the General Assembly at its 80th session on 24 April during which they discussed the important role of the General Assembly, the Pact for the Future and its implementation as well as the 80th anniversary of the United Nations.?
Announcement on co-facilitators?
The President has appointed H.E. Ekitela Lokaale, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ and H.E. Ms. Suela Janina, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Albania to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ as co-facilitators to lead an intergovernmental process resulting in an intergovernmentally agreed outcome document for adoption at the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on Information Society.?The President?extends his appreciation to H.E. Mr. Lokaale and H.E. Mr. Rytis Paulauskas, Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ for their efforts in organizing the intergovernmental consultations that led up to consensual adoption of the modalities resolution.??
Question and Responses
Question: Did the new president of the GA80 go through the same procedure like the last few years, where there were more than one candidate, and they sit for question and answer, and then the General Assembly decides who would be the new president?
Response: So this is the only candidate we have from this regional group, the Western European [and Other States] Group. And what is happening is that there will be an informal dialogue on the 15th of May, where she will present her vision statement, and there will be questions posed to her that she will answer then.
Question: But there is no other candidate?
Response: There is no other candidate for the President of the General Assembly at the 80th?session.
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Media Contacts
?Sharon Birch, Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly, Tel: +1 212 963 0564, M: +1 646 342 5873, Email: birchs@un.org
Dr. Mariam Shaikh, Adviser/ Social and Digital Media/Media Relations, M: +1 917 361 4990, Email: mariam.shaikh@un.org
More Information and Updates?: Website: ???: ??: ; Weekly Highlights: Resolutions of the 79th Session ¨C Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly