Full Transcript of the Press Conference by the President of the General Assembly,
Mr. Dennis Francis,
at Â鶹APP Headquarters in New York
9 September 2024
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[Spokesperson] Good morning, everyone, and sorry for keeping you waiting. It’s our last full day in the office. My dear colleagues, today is my last encounter here with you as the Spokesperson for PGA 78. I would like to thank His Excellency, the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Dennis Francis, for this great opportunity, privilege, and honor to serve him and for standing every day with you here in the press briefing room and online as well on his behalf. I also want to thank my supervisor, His Excellency Ambassador Collen Kelapile, who is here today who is the PGA’s Chef de Cabinet. Some of you remember him as a former president of ECOSOC. I¡¯d like to thank him for his guidance, for his support, and hard work. It has been a pleasure, sir, working with you as well under your supervision. So let me tell some words about President Francis before he comes so that he’s not listening to this, thank God. I want to highlight his professionalism, his quintessential diplomacy skills, tireless and diligent work, and his very kind, respectful, and compassionate demeanor, which I saw every day. And above all, he’s somebody whose truth was always based on facts. So, I would like to thank you and thank him for this opportunity and for his commitment, his true commitment, with building a better world for all. So many thanks also to my beloved DGC, the Department of Global Communications, and USG Melissa Fleming for releasing me to be here with you. So tomorrow I go back to the DGC after the PGA leaves the office. And I would like to thank all my colleagues on OPGA 78 for the great work and cooperation that we had together It was lots of work, but also was a pleasure working with you all. I feel really blessed for this great year. And last but not least, thank you, my colleagues, journalists, correspondents, media professionals, press professionals, for the great work together. For another year working with you, you have been great companions in this voyage. So, I thank you very much. And now I’m going to get the PGA. Thank you.
[H.E. Dennis Francis] Good morning, everybody. It is with great pride and humility that I, once again, welcome you all ¨C this time to my final Press Conference in the capacity of President of the General Assembly; a role that has been an honour of a lifetime.
But, as you would be aware, this mandate is finite. It expires. In the instant case, the transfer of authority marking the conclusion of the 78th session is tomorrow morning.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you most sincerely ¨C as members of the media fraternity ¨C for your keen interest in the work and activities of my Presidency.
I will be the first to admit that ¨C as is often the case ¨C one never knows when stepping into such a role what to expect in relations with the media. But I was extremely gratified by the accuracy and overall quality of your reporting and I commend all of you for your fine demonstration of that integrity; Very often I received from my team, including from my Spokesperson, Monica, your generally supportive objective assessments and heart- warming words of encouragement.
Your diligent coverage of the issues before the 78th session kept this Office accountable to the principles of our Charter – shining an important spotlight on the important work done by this Organization to serve the 8.2 billion inhabitants of this planet that comprise the ¡°we the peoples¡± ¨C referred to in the Charter ¨C and to do so, consistent with the spirit of leaving no one behind.
Colleagues, I hope you will agree with me that this has been a truly eventful session;
One that began with the adoption of a landmark political declaration at the SDG Summit, which was endorsed by the General Assembly in its first official action of the 78th session, bringing urgency to our efforts to fulfil the SDGs.
The political declarations also approved at the three health-related High-Level Meetings ¨C on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response; on universal health coverage and on the fight against tuberculosis ¨C bolstered these efforts, by placing health and people-centred care at the very centre of the international agenda.
The High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development, meanwhile, led to a resounding consensus on the need to reform the global financial architecture ¨C with a view to matching our Sustainable Development ambitions for 2030 with the necessary resources for implementation.
Furthermore, the Assembly commemorated the significant milestone of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December with an informal plenary and award ceremony for recipients of the UN Human Rights Prize.
At my initiative, in April we convened the Assembly¡¯s first-ever Sustainability Week ¨C featuring events on tourism, transport, infrastructure and energy, as well as a flagship event on debt sustainability, highlighting in particular, the concerns of countries in special situations on these development crises.
It was a week devoted to building momentum for the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States in May, the Summit of the Future ¨C now around the corner ¨C and catapulting our shared efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Throughout, we were reminded of the central responsibility to build sustainable peace, the lynchpin of success on any other pillar of the UN¡¯s work.
Following the horrifying escalation of violence in the Middle East, the General Assembly took bold action in resuming its 10th Emergency Special Session, and in doing so, adopting three important resolutions:
- One on the protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations,
- Another demanding an immediate ceasefire, that all parties comply with their obligations under international law and the unconditional release of all hostages as well as humanitarian access, and,
- A third determining that the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the Â鶹APP and recommending that the Security Council consider the matter favourably.
These demands by the Assembly represent the will of the international community, and ¨C as I have routinely said on several occasions ¨C I reiterate these demands, forthrightly, here today. It is time for the violence in Gaza to stop.
You may recall that I launched my Presidency under the theme of: ¡°Rebuilding Trust and Reigniting Global Solidarity¡± ¨C underpinned by my four watchwords of Peace, Prosperity, Progress, and Sustainability for all; aimed to anchor my vision and shape our priorities for the session.
I am proud of the work we did ¨C with the support of my highly motivated team ¨C on gender and youth, which included re-establishing the gender Advisory Board on Gender Equality and engaging youth frequently, both on official visits abroad and here at the Â鶹APP in New York, as well as elsewhere in the host country.
I also was privileged to draw upon the expert counsel of my Advisory Board for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS ¨C which ensured that we do everything possible to highlight the peculiar needs of these countries in special situations by elevating their legitimate concerns high on our agenda here at the UN and other global fora.
A major achievement of the Presidency was the elevation of the issue of Sea Level rise which had laid unattended to the focused attention of the General Assembly. This is a pervasive concern of several countries in both the global north and the south, though it takes on exceptional significance in the case of Small Island Developing States, and low-lying coastal areas as well as LDCs and LLDCs. At my initiative, Heads of State and Government will take up the issue of the threats posed by Sea Level Rise on 25 September 2024 with a view to giving specific directions for future work.
Let me end by reiterating once again that ¨C in all our efforts in the Office of the President of the General Assembly at its 78th session ¨C my entire team, ably guided by my Chef de Cabinet Ambassador Collen Vixen Kelapile, and my Deputy Chef de Cabinet, Inga Kanchaveli ¨C was instrumental in helping us navigate a session marked by extraordinary challenges.
I likewise express my deep appreciation to many more who collaborated with my Office, including all members of the General Committee who supported my Presidency ¨C and especially the 21 Vice-Presidents who often stepped in when conflicting commitments required my presence elsewhere.
I should like to express my great thanks to your colleague, Monica Grayley, and the extraordinary work they have done to ensure the messaging and the messages of the 78th session got adequate and fair press coverage and that it reached the target audience ¨C audiences ¨C all over the world.
With that, let me turn now to your questions, as I suspect you may have many.
[Spokesperson] With that, let me turn now to your questions, of which I suspect you may have many. Thank you so much, Mr. President. Valeria Robecco, representing ANCA, has the first question. Thank you.
[Question] Thank you, Monica, and thank you, Mr. President. for this press conference and for your availability with us during the past year. On behalf of the Â鶹APP Correspondent Association, it’s Valeria Robecco from ANSA. My question is, we are seeing that we are in a world that is more polarized than ever with big challenges from Ukraine to Gaza and the Middle East. After your year, As PGA, you are more optimistic or pessimistic about the capability of the UN to be a key player in this kind of situation, like in Middle East, or Ukraine, or with the climate change. So that’s my question. Thank you.
[H.E. Dennis Francis] I’m optimistic about the future of the UN for a number of reasons. Because there is no other organization on this planet like the UN that has the capacity or the commitment to do what the UN does. It simply does not exist anywhere else. And as much and as important as regional organizations are and can play an important role, they can never supplant the role played by the UN. For one very simple fact, the convening power of the UN to bring together 193 countries, diverse countries, as it should be, reflecting the sociological, political, religious, ethnic, cultural, technological, environmental diversity that exists across the earth so that countries can discuss their problems and concerns together in a rational, civil manner and to find solutions. No one left behind must mean no one excluded from the discussion. And that is what the UN does, phenomenally so. We may not always win in the way we want to win, but the values and principles that the UN abides by, that of resolution of disputes by peaceful means through negotiation and conciliation means and allows everyone to come here and express their views freely and openly on the important issues of our times. And so, I remain bullish¡ªto use a term used in the financial markets¡ªI’m bullish on the UN. It is challenged, there’s no doubt about it, but we live in challenging times. And so, the challenge that exists is not just for the UN. There are many organizations that are challenged. However, we have the will, and we have the capacity and the determination to look ahead and to do what is necessary in terms of reform in order to deliver the commitments we have and the mandate that the charter gives us for we the peoples. Thank you.
[Spokesperson] Thank you very much, Mr. President. I have Volodymyr, Vusala, Joe Klein, Hamid, and I’ll go to Georgia afterwards. Volodymyr, please, go ahead.
[Question] Thank you so much, Volodymyr Ichenko, National News Agency of Ukraine. Mr. President, this summer you visited Ukraine, including Bucha, where Russian troops carried out a massacre. You spoke about this in an interview for my news agency in Kyiv. Do you think the General Assembly has done everything it could to stop Russia’s war against Ukraine and force Russia to respect the UN Charter and international law? Thank you.
[H.E. Dennis Francis] Well, I don’t quite know what you mean by quote-unquote forcing Russia to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine and international law. The Â鶹APP does not work by force. We work by conviction, based on our values and principles. And we hope and expect that all member states of the Â鶹APP will honor and implement the commitments they accepted upon joining the Â鶹APP, one of which is, of course, respecting the territorial integrity of other states. We continue to hope and expect that the Russians would honor their commitments, but I don’t think we have the capacity, nor do we have the mission to force the Russians. The Russians, like Ukraine and like all other 193 member states, are sovereign. They make their own decisions. They make them independently. And we have got to respect the fact that they make them independently. Because in the same vein, they must respect the fact that other countries devise their policies independently. I would certainly have hoped that this war would have come to an end already. I’ve said this variously, and I’ve said it to senior representatives of the Russian Federation. However, it has not. And in some ways, it has grown, but the situation is as it is, I believe the General Assembly has passed a number of resolutions, strong resolutions, calling upon the Russian Federation to respect the law and to withdraw its forces. I remember myself inserting the word immediately in that resolution. Withdraw immediately because it ought never to have happened. It constitutes a violation, a fundamental and egregious violation of the international law, which we cannot allow to stand. It is not a good precedent for the system. If other countries decided to follow suit, what would that mean for global peace and security? What would that mean for stability? What would it mean for the global economy and for people’s safety and security? So, it cannot and must not be allowed to stand. And that is why the General Assembly has passed such strong resolutions about it.
[Question] Mr. Dennis Francis, thank you very much for this press briefing. I’m Vusala from Azerbaijan News Agency Report. I remember you as not just a high-ranking distinguished UN official, but also as a kind and sincere diplomat, with the qualities I believe we need these days in our world more than ever. So, I have two questions. First, about COP. COP 29 is scheduled to be held in Baku in this November. According to the Azerbaijani government, preparations are progressing full swing. Climate change still remains a pivotal issue in their agenda. I’m just wondering what your expectation is from the Azerbaijani presidency? Second, during your presidency, you visited Azerbaijan. So how do you assess the cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UN? Thank you.
[H.E. Dennis Francis] Well, with respect to COP, the Azerbaijani authorities, I know, are very keen to host a COP that really makes a difference. In fact, they have said to me that they expect that this COP will make significant progress on climate change issues. Though I did not say this to them in the same way, my reaction was no different from the reaction I had when the COP was hosted in the UAE, which was, I’m anxious to see that difference. But I take the Azerbaijani authorities at their word. I know they’re working hard to organize the conference and to do everything necessary to ensure that it has a successful outcome. One of the things that I think we needed to see in the COP29 is a higher level of performance on the issue of climate finance. That remains a bothersome issue in making progress on the climate crisis. and climate finance, both in terms of mitigation, but particularly in terms of adaptation, where only 2% of all of the resources devoted to the climate is devoted to adaptation. It doesn’t mean that we are content with the funding directed to mitigation. We are not. But 2% of the resources devoted to climate change only being to adaptation does not send the right signal, because that is where it is in the realm of adaptation that most of the costs will arise. We welcomed last year at COP28
the establishment and initiation of funding of the loss and damage fund. And that was indeed a welcome and a step in the right direction. Several countries, I recall the United States, I think some countries in Europe, UAE itself had committed funds to the loss and damage fund. But clearly, that fund is in need of embellishment, significant embellishment, because the losses and the damage continue to rack up on an annual basis, on a yearly basis. We cannot make progress on climate change without the funding required to undertake the reforms that are necessary. And that is a key area in which progress needs to be made.
[Spokesperson] Thank you, Mr. President. Before we cross to Joe Klein and Hamid, I would like to say that we are live on UN Web TV and also on UN TV. And many thanks to our colleagues in the Office of the Spokesperson, to the Secretary General, Mr. Ant? Guterres, for their support as well. If you are online, we’ll be giving you the microphone in a minute. But first of all, Joe Klein. Thank you.
[Question] Joseph Klein of Canada Free Press. And thank you, sir, for this briefing. My questions relate to the Global Digital Compact draft that I believe you co-facilitated. And first, paragraph 40 in the draft states that, quote, our goal is a 50% increase in financing for sustainable development data. So, given the shortfall in financing for the existing SDG commitments, how realistic is this to expand SDG-related financing commitments? And secondly, there is much discussion in the draft about fostering an inclusive and interoperable, open, safe, and secure digital space. And as noble as this objective is, how realistic is it to achieve in view of increasing cyber-attacks, violations of privacy on the internet, misuse of data, and increasing trends pointing in the opposite direction? They’re pointing to internet fragmentation. So those are my questions relating to the draft Global Digital Pact. Thank you.
[H.E. Dennis Francis] Well, let me say in response, first of all, that the question you asked about the SDGs and reconciling the lack of funding on SDGs with the expectation or the hope that funding on the other areas such as the climate would not be impacted seems to give the impression on the face of it that we’re talking about the same money. I do not believe that we are talking about the same money. The job of work to be done in supporting development in the Global South, where development has been in deficit, beginning from the period of decolonization, in the 1960s. I’m sure that you can remember that in the 1960s, this very Â鶹APP declared that decade to be the decade of development. Here we are in 2024 discussing an agenda for the same development. So, I do not accept that it is the same pot of money, or that it is, there ought to be some weighing up between whether resources are devoted to improving the conditions of life in which human beings live in the global south, and in some places in the global north, for that matter. with what happens to the climate, with funding for the climate. Because, for example, whereas it might be true that living conditions and standards of welfare and well-being are different, certainly much more sophisticated in the global north than they are in the global south, the climate crisis affects and impacts does not stop at the border. We know that. So, these are problems that on their own merit the attention and swift action to correct on the path of the entire international community. That is why the principle has been and remains that all countries must make a contribution. No one is saying the burden of the issue of burden sharing is one that is to be shared by all members of the international community, both in terms of climate action and in terms of SDG development. So, I think it is a question really of commitment. Commitment on the part of those who may have the capacity to act consistent with the pledges that have been made. The second part of my question related to the emphasis in the draft Global Digital Compact on fostering an open, interoperable, safe digital space globally. And my question is, as noble as that objective is, how realistic is it, in your view, to achieve given trends in the opposite direction, invasions of privacy, cyber-attacks, increasing trends of fragmentation of the internet? Well, there is no doubt that, let me put it this way. That is a standard to which we aspire, an open, transparent, et cetera, et cetera, digital space. It is akin to the very same posture that the international community had with the internet. I used to attend those meetings on governance of the internet. And the debate, a raging debate, took place then, as it is taking place now, about to what extent Should there be intervention in regulating and overseeing the Internet? So, it’s a standard to which we aspire, and I’m very confident that it is the right standard. Now, in its implementation, one could not credibly ignore or overlook the fact that we have among us those with malicious intent who would use the digital space to undermine governments, undermine the private companies, undermine international political stability. And so there will have to be, inevitably, there will have to be some arrangements made
to deal with those episodes. But that, in my view, ought not to undermine the overall objective of minimizing the extent to which state intervention becomes a reality in the governance of the digital space. Thank you.
[Spokesperson] We go to Abdelhamid and Georgia and Ahmed, and I have you in the back. Okay.
[Question] Thank you, Monica. Thank you, Mr. President. My name is Abdelhamid Siyam. I want to thank you for having access to your office to do an interview with my paper first. And, sir, I want to ask you two questions, related questions. First, it’s 11 months since the war in Gaza started, 11 months of your presidency. An average of 3,500 Palestinians were murdered during this presidency. So, your office represents a high morality place. You are on the top of a global parliament that represents the whole world. So wouldn’t it have been a good gesture if you went to the border of Gaza and stood there and said something in sympathy with those being killed
Day in and day out, 13,000, 14,000 children had been killed. That’s one question. And second, when you leave the UN in the future and you write your memoir, I hope you will write it soon, so what are you going to write about this war that happened almost entirely during your presidency? Thank you, sir.
[H.E. Dennis Francis] Well, let me start at the end where you… I’ve not… made a decision as of now to write my memoirs on this issue. I may well write my memoirs, but it might not include the presidency. You can be sure, though, if I do, I will write it truthfully. And to your first question, I attempted to go to Gaza many times and was advised, not just by UN security, but by key players in the region, that it was not the right moment for a number of reasons. It was never my wish and would not be my wish to go to the border of Rafah and look over almost as if I were looking, I would be looking at a monument or some historical feature to engage in tourism. It was my desire to go into and to witness for myself what the people of Gaza were living through. I never had the opportunity to do that and it’s regrettable because I was always very conscious that those people needed all of the help and support that they could get. So, I did the next best thing that I could do. Use my platform and pulpit to draw attention to what was taking place there and to insist that international law and international humanitarian law be honored by all the players, not because the Vienna Conventions speak loudly. We do not lose our humanity or our human rights simply because a war is taking place. We don’t. And so, I wish the circumstances were different, but they were unavoidable.
[Spokesperson] Thank you, Mr. President. We go to Georgia. I have you. Okay, go ahead, Georgia, please.
[Question] Thank you. Secretary-General is currently focusing on the ongoing efforts intending to find common ground between the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots in Cyprus, assisted by his personal envoy, Mrs. Olgin Koyar. How does the General Assembly encourage the two parts? And do you believe that this time there will be a positive outcome? Thank you. I certainly hope so. This situation has gone on, as you know, for a very long time, since 1974, I believe. I fully support the Secretary General in his good office’s efforts to bring this situation to an end. And the General Assembly has passed resolutions, as you know. So perhaps this time around, we will make meaningful progress, I hope.
[Spokesperson] Ahmed, go ahead, please. Thanks.
[Question] Thank you, Mr. President. Ahmed Fahti, ATN News. At the outset, I wish to thank you for your continuous availability. I thank your team, the PGA 78 team, whether on camera, off camera, digitally. This staff has been really wonderful and a great team to work with. I’m not really interested in a particular geopolitical or economic a development-related area. I’m more interested to ask you, you being a scientist, what was your overall takeouts and the highlights? Let’s say the top three to five areas that you think that the presidency has made a difference in under your leadership. What are the top three areas that you are moving over to your successor who’s going to assume the post tomorrow? And did you have any advice for your successor to prepare him before he embarks on this great journey, professionally and on the humanitarian side as well? Thank you.
[H.E. Dennis Francis] That’s several questions. What are the top three areas in which I think I made a difference? I believe that at the top of that list has to be in the role and function and the image, I think, of the General Assembly as acting perhaps more robustly and forthrightly than it did before. I’ll share with you an excerpt from an email that a former distinguished member of staff of the Â鶹APP, very senior, very distinguished, sent to me on the weekend in which he said to me, you kept the lights on in the General Assembly. I must admit I had not thought of it in those terms. But it is a fact that the House, that within and without, the General Assembly is looked upon now as being perhaps more active, more willing to assert its authority. And this has arisen in the context of the veto initiative, which is not new. It was not initiated during the 78th session. But certainly, the actions taken by the General Assembly against the backdrop of a parallel lack of action in the other place caught the attention of the general public. There is now an increased expectation that the General Assembly can and should take up matters of international peace and security, and that this is not the exclusive reserve of the Security Council. Well, the Charter assigns residual powers to the General Assembly. And so, the General Assembly is keen now to ensure that it exercises its powers to the fullest extent possible under the Charter. That is why, for example, for the first time in many, many years, the General Assembly took the decision to send back the report of the Security Council, the annual report, to send it back to the Council because the General Assembly was dissatisfied with the contents of the report. It was too short on details. And the General Assembly took the view that merely forwarding a form report in order to fulfill the legal requirement for there to be a report was quite unsatisfactory. So, we returned the report to the Security Council and actually convened an informal plenary to discuss the contents of the report and made clear recommendations regarding the areas in which we wanted to see have additional information. That is the kind of buoyancy perhaps is the word, that now influences the mood of the General Assembly. The fact that the Security Council had not found it possible, for reasons that we all know about, to pass a resolution on Gaza in the face of the number of civilian deaths, particularly of women and children, that had taken place there. And that today exceeds 40,000. I’ll be undiplomatic. I can be undiplomatic today. Wholly scandalous. 40,000 people. It’s scandalous. The fact that the General Assembly took past that resolution within six weeks of October 7th happening put pressure on the Security Council to pass its own resolution. That is the kind of buoyancy I’m talking about. So, of course, the General Assembly may not exceed its powers with respect to peace and security, but it is absolutely clear that we are looking ahead to a period where the General Assembly, in the relevant circumstances, will step up, assert its authority, and make its voice heard loud and clear as to whether it can live with decisions of the council in relation, decisions or lack of decisions, in relation to peace and security.
[Spokesperson] Mr. President, I’m sorry. We’re going to have to move, because we still have three questions here in the room. But also, I would like to ask if there is anyone online. And yes, OK. We have Iftikhar there. OK, we’re going to get you the microphone as well. And also, I would like to say, because somebody asked, that thanks to our colleagues, Serena Giglio, Carolina Nazaro, this press conference will be transcribed for you. So, we’re going to receive word by word in your mailbox. Let’s cross very quickly. Go ahead, please, you. Yes, yes, go ahead. Thanks.
[Question] My name is Jerry Kao for the China Central Television. Mr. President, in August, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion stating that all Israel settlements in the West Bank are illegal. At that time, the Palestinian observer to the Â鶹APP proposed submitting the matter for action in the General Assembly. My question is, has your office received this draft letter? With only one day left in your term, will you take any action before your term ends? Or will you leave it to the President of the 79th session of the General Assembly?
[Spokesperson] Thank you. Thank you so much. In the interest of time, I will also ask Stefano Vaccara, please, your question. Thanks. Thank you.
[Question] I have two questions. One is a follow-up of the one already asked. Anyway, there is much talk about the UN reforms, but little substance so far. If you were asked to suggest a reform on the powers and functions of the UNGA president, what would you propose? Or for the job you had, is everything OK as it is? And then the second question is, tomorrow there is a debate between the US presidential candidates, Trump and Harris. If you could give an ABC journalist one piece of advice on how to ask a question about climate change, what would you tell them?
[H.E. Dennis Francis] Well, I would say, let me take that right away. My response to that question, the last part of that question, is in fact not a response at all. Because I think that not being a journalist myself, not having had any sort of preparation, either in communications or journalism, I know better than to suggest to a professional journalist what they should ask and how they should ask it. They are free to ask. As I have come here to you, you’re free to ask whatever your interest is and to pose it in whatever way you like. The first part of the question. UN reforms. Now, UN reform is an ongoing process. We’ve had the IGN, co-chaired by the ambassadors of Austria and Kuwait, who have done a phenomenal job of work, as indeed have all of the co-facilitators. But UN reform, Security Council reform, the process surrounding it has not begun in earnest. There are no formal negotiations, because I noted that you said in framing your question, and there have been little results. Well, there can be no results, or little. There can only be little results, because the negotiations have not been launched. They’re not yet taking place. What is being done, diplomats have, there is a, what is the word I’m looking for? There was a way in which diplomats come to negotiation. We know we want to discuss the water in the glass. That is the focus. But we don’t just jump to the focus, we will discuss the glass, the type of glass. We will discuss the specific gravity of the water against the surface of the glass. There are pre-discussions that we need to set. It’s sort of like the rules of the game. We establish those. upfront before we delve into the subject matter. And that process has been going on, is ongoing, in respect of the Security Council. So, the negotiations will be launched. The timing of the launch, the formal launch and commencement of negotiations, would be a matter for the member states to decide. They’ve not yet made that determination. In respect of the General Assembly, we have to be a little bit more cautious because the language, if you check the resolution, the language does not say reform. It talks about revitalization of the General Assembly. And I think many of you have been around the UN long enough to know that the UN, in addition to the spoken word, the UN speaks through the written word. So, the fact that in respect of the Council, its reform, but in respect of this General Assembly, its revitalization, something is being communicated, a subtle difference is being communicated there. But I have to tell you that the process, the discussions on revitalization of the General Assembly have been making significant progress. There are many things, many improvements that are proposed and that I hope will continue, I know that will continue into the 78th, 79th session. This is not something that you do whimsically, a lot of thought and preparation goes into this. And let me use this opportunity to thank the two co-facilitators, the ambassadors of St. Lucia and Romania for their work.
Yes, we are, of course, aware of the decision by the International Court of Justice. The ICJ, of course, is the highest court. It’s the UN court. We fully respect the decisions of the court. We have not received a letter to that effect. during my presidency. I expect it will come sometime during the 79th session. And so, it will be for the presidency of the 79th to deal with it.
[Spokesperson] We’re going to move to our two last questions very quickly. I don’t want to have any trouble with because he has to be here soon. So Iftikhar online, and then Jamil the last question here. Iftikhar, please go ahead.
[Question] Thank you, Monica. And thank you, Mr. President, wishing you success in what you do in future. My question is on Afghanistan. Three years have passed, and the Taliban have not implemented the commitments they made to the international community with regard to the rights of the girls and women, and also that they will not allow Afghan territory to be used
for cross-border terrorist attacks. Any comments on that, sir?
[H.E. Dennis Francis] Thank you for the question. I’ve spoken on this issue in the past variously about the need for the Taliban to revisit its policy and to change its policy regarding the education of girls in that country to start with. In fact, I had hoped to conduct a special meeting on this question before the end of the presidency. But unhappily, it was not possible to do so. I mean, I’ve said it all before. It’s an anachronism that denies the young people, the young women of Afghanistan, their basic human right, the right to an education. I said at the beginning of my presidency in the statement, in my acceptance statement, that it was education that delivered me to the podium of the presidency of the General Assembly. And I still feel that way today. It will never change. Education is the great liberator and equalizer, and all human beings upon this planet have a right to it. It is a fundamental right that everyone must enjoy. I hope that the international community will continue to use its influence and that those who are partners of the Afghan regime would use their influence to effect change in this area. I note with interest that earlier this year, they did allow a limited group of women to study medicine. And I thought that this was a helpful and useful forward step that could be broadened but we have seen no evidence of that since. So, I encourage them, and I urge them to act in the best interest of the future development of Afghanistan by allowing young girls to go to school. Because education helps us to navigate the intricacies and complexities of the world. Education is more than just reading a book or counting numbers. It really opens up the vistas of the brain and helps to improve the quality of people’s lives¡[crosstalk] All terrorist attacks are terrorist attacks. They are destructive. They are harmful. They cause harm and pain to society and to human beings. So, of course, as President of the General Assembly, I repudiate fully all terrorist attacks.
[Spokesperson] Jamil Chade, you have the last question. And also, welcome to the press briefing room.
[Question] Thank you, Monica. Jamil Chade, a journalist from Brazil, UOL News. So, you certainly kept the lights on at the General Assembly. But we also seen during this year that many of the discussions were taken to the G20 and other four, the BRICS enlargement, and other groups as well. In two weeks, we’ll see a meeting between the G20 and the General Assembly here in New York. My question to you, do you fear that perhaps more and more of these decision-making elements will be taken out of this building? And what is the importance of having a dialogue between the G20 and the General Assembly? Thank you.
[H.E. Dennis Francis] Well, I cannot foretell what the ambitions of any organization, including the G20, might be. I’m not in a position to do so. I can only comment on the existing situation and the roles of the relevant organizations. Let’s start at the end. where you ended, the forthcoming Brazilian presidency of the G20 in many ways reflects and parallels much of what we are seeking to achieve in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Brazilian Sherpa earlier this year came to New York to the UN. And I believe we had an informal plenary and presented several areas in which there is the potential for collaboration. And I believe it is in that context that the forthcoming meeting of the Brazilian presidency of the G20 will take place with the General Assembly. Now, the General Assembly is not averse. Our agenda is Agenda 2030. We know it is challenged. The General Assembly is not averse and sees no conflict, none whatsoever, working with other partners in the interest of implementing and achieving Agenda 2030. And Brazil is a notable and influential member of the Global South. Brazil has itself in the past lifted many hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. So, they have recorded a success in some of these areas. And so, a discussion involving sharing of information and perspectives and perhaps areas of common action can only but help progress towards achieving Agenda 2030. I see nothing nefarious or suspicious about that collaboration. That’s the first thing. The second thing is, no, as I said, I can’t foretell people’s ambitions. What I would say is the ambition of the Â鶹APP remains absolutely the same. To serve the international community as best it can, to achieve peace and security, to achieve development, and to ensure the progress and observation, the adherence to human rights. That’s our core. That is our brand. It is not going to change at all. We are faithful to those values and principles because we believe in them, and we believe that they are as relevant and as powerful today as they ever were. So whatever ambitions may exist, I do not foresee that there is going to be, certainly in my lifetime, the departure of any of the key issues from this forum to anywhere else. As I said, we are the only ones that bring 193 countries, more or less, to the table. And the fact that they keep coming, consider this. This is a very important evidentiary point. The fact that they keep coming year in, year out, is testimony of the faith that the international community still has in the power and potential and promise of the Â鶹APP. Are we done?
[Spokesperson] Yes. I think that concludes. Thank you all very much for your time.
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