PRESS BRIEFING
BY MONICA GRAYLEY,?
SPOKESPERSON FOR?GENERAL ASSEMBLY?
PRESIDENT DENNIS FRANCIS
United Nations Headquarters, New York
17 October 2023
Video:
PRESIDENT FRANCIS STARTS VISIT TO REPUBLIC OF KOREA
The President of the General Assembly, Mr. Dennis Francis, landed in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, where he is attending the Council of Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly¡¯s (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵCPGA¡¯s) annual meeting. On this first day, which will start this evening in the equivalent to New York time, Mr. Francis will pay a courtesy call on the President of Korea, H.E. Yoon Suk Yeol. He will also be received by the former Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, in a separate meeting.
The PGA¡¯s delegation will undertake a familiarization tour of the Demilitarized Zone between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People¡¯s Republic of Korea. On Thursday, the GA leader will deliver a Guest Lecture to young academics at Yonsei University with the theme of his Presidency: ¡°Rebuilding Trust and Reigniting Solidarity: Accelerating Action on the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs towards Peace, Prosperity, Progress and Sustainability for All.¡± He will return to New York on Friday.
PGA DEEPLY CONCERNED BY HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
On the situation in Israel and in the Gaza Strip, the PGA has reiterated the need for collective efforts to promote de-escalation, ease the humanitarian crisis and bring relevant parties to the table for peace talks as soon as possible. Mr. Francis says that the safety of civilians must be ensured, and a passage for humanitarian aid opened to prevent a more severe humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. The GA leader urges all parties to abide by international humanitarian law. He stresses the need for the immediate release of hostages taken from Israel when Hamas attacked the country on 7 October. The PGA urges both sides to work and take decisive actions towards lasting peace, despite the recent and ongoing hostilities.
QUESTIONS ON RULES OF PROCEDURE
Yesterday, I was asked about rules of procedure to an eventual Emergency Special Session at the General Assembly on the situation in Israel and in the Gaza Strip. According to the last GA resolution entitled ¡°Protection of the Palestinian civilian population¡±, from June 2018, which was adopted under the tenth Emergency Especial Session, the GA decided to adjourn the meeting and to authorize the President of the General Assembly to resume the session upon request from Member States. The 10th ESS is still open and any request to resume needs to be made by more than one Member State. Based on this resolution, the request is made to the PGA.
You can find more information on the rules of procedure and on previous sessions on our website: www.un.org/ga/sessions
This is everything I have for today.
END
Twitter:
Instagram:
YouTube: