Â鶹APP

PEACE SHOULD BE A CULTURE, PRESIDENT TELLS HIGH-LEVEL FORUM

• This morning, the President convened the High-level Forum on the Culture of Peace.
• The theme?this year is: ¡°The Culture of Peace: A Credible Pathway to Sustaining Peace¡±.
• In his remarks, the President said, ¡°Peace should not be a theory. It should not be a principle or an aim or an outcome. It should not have a budget ¨C or a timeline.
• ¡°Instead, peace should be something that we can touch, see, feel and experience ¨C on a daily basis. It should be in the air around us ¨C or the ground we walk on. It should, in essence, be a culture. And one that is here to stay.¡±
• Also speaking in the opening session were the Secretary-General¡¯s Chef de Cabinet and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Rigoberta Mench¨².
• There will also be a panel discussion this afternoon in the Trusteeship Council Chamber.
• The panellists will include the UN¡¯s Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, the Permanent Representatives of Kenya and Mexico, the Director of UNESCO¡¯s Office in New York, and the Director of the Peace and Justice Institute in Orlando, Florida.

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT PACT COULD BE GOOD FOR PLANET

• The General Assembly¡¯s process to address possible gaps in international environmental law and environmental related instruments started this morning.
• This is in accordance with the from last May, entitled ¡°Towards a Global Pact for the Environment¡±.
• In his remarks to that meeting today, the President said a Global Pact for the Environment would have the potential to create more coherence and integration among our various agreements and mechanisms.
• He added that the Pact could also ¡°allow us to pick up the pace, in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. And it could give us the push forward that we need¨C as we adopt new economic models.¡±
• In short, the Pact could allow us to ¡°hand our planet over in as good a ¨C or even better ¨C condition than we ourselves inherited,¡± the President said.

IMPROVEMENTS MAKE GENERAL ASSEMBLY HALL MORE ACCESSIBLE TO PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

• The President is hosting a working lunch today on accessibility of the Â鶹APP and inclusion of persons with disabilities in the work of the Organization.
• Attendees will include representatives of Member States, the UN Secretariat and persons with disabilities ¨C as well as the President-elect of the General Assembly¡¯s 73rd session.
• President Laj?¨¢k is expected to say that the UN has spoken about disability rights, and disability and development. But it needs to lead by example.
• On a related note, changes were made to the General Assembly Hall last month ¨C to make it more accessible for wheelchair users. Those changes were encouraged by President Laj?¨¢k.
• They include the addition of: a portable ramp and lift to the front rostrum, as well as a platform for speakers; a permanent wheelchair lift to the top podium; a ramp to the back of the GA-200 area; and floating wheelchair adviser seats for delegations.

REVIEW OF PRESIDENT¡¯S FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE STATEMENT COMPLETED

• The review of the President¡¯s financial disclosure statement has now been completed by an external reviewer.
• The President had submitted that statement to the Ethics Office last month, for external review.
• This was in line with General Assembly resolution 70/305 on ¡°Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly¡±.
• According to that resolution, the Assembly ¡°decides that Presidents of the General Assembly shall provide financial disclosures upon assumption and completion of their duties, in line with the existing Â鶹APP financial disclosure programme¡±.
• The external reviewer said it would inform the UN Ethics Office that President Laj?¨¢k¡¯s file has been cleared of conflicts of interest.

ANTI-NUCLEAR TEST DAY TO BE OBSERVED TOMORROW

• Tomorrow the President will convene a High-level Meeting to Commemorate and Promote the International Day Against Nuclear Tests
• The actual day was on 29 August, but it is being observed tomorrow.
• In addition to the President, the Secretary-General, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) Executive Secretary and the ATOM Project¡¯s Honorary Ambassador will speak.