Source The United Nations
Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights: – Senior Personnel Appointments – Summit of the Americas – Ukraine – Myanmar – Refugees and Migrants – World Meteorological Organization – Mongolia
Media www.rajawalisiber.com – SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENTS The Secretary-General is appointing Amandeep Singh Gill of India as his Envoy on Technology. The Secretary-General wishes to extend his appreciation and gratitude to the Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, for her dedication and commitment as the Acting Envoy on Technology. Mr. Gill is the Chief Executive Officer of the International Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence Research Collaborative (I-DAIR) project, based at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, in Geneva. He had previously served as India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
The Secretary-General is also appointing Navid Hanif of Pakistan as his Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Mr. Hanif succeeds Elliot Harris of Trinidad and Tobago to whom the Secretary-General wishes to extend his appreciation and gratitude for his dedication and commitment.
Mr. Hanif is currently the Director of the Financing for Sustainable Development Office in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, here in New York. He brings to the position more than 30 years of experience in national and international civil service. And we congratulate our friend Navid on this appointment.
SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS The Secretary-General is on a plane back to New York. Yesterday afternoon, he spoke at the plenary of the Summit of the Americas.
The Secretary-General told the leaders gathered for the summit that it is essential to close the gap between the great potential of this region and the daily struggles faced by the people who call it home. Across the region, he said, we see countries that continue to be weighed down by a toxic brew of inequality, poverty, crime, insecurity and mistrust.
He added that the global consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are rippling across a world already struggling with rising commodity prices, food insecurity and high levels of poverty and inequality.
The Secretary-General proposed that we address the challenges we face by rescuing the Sustainable Development Goals and investing in all the systems that support people — from health and decent work to social protection systems and vaccines for all. He told the gathered leaders that every step of the way, they can count on the steadfast support of the United Nations.