Election of the New President of the General Assembly & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (1 June)

Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:
- Election of New President of the General Assembly
- Black Sea Initiative
- Ukraine
- Sudan/ Security Council
- South Sudan
- Bangladesh
- World Meteorological Organization
- Conscious Fashion
- Day of Parents
- Financial Contributions
- Guests/Briefings

ELECTION OF NEW PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
This morning, the Secretary-General congratulated Dennis Francis of Trinidad and Tobago on being elected to lead the next session of the General Assembly.  
He said that President-elect Francis brings a wide range of skills, experience and knowledge, adding that, in addition to his years working closely with multilateral agencies, he also is a respected negotiator and long-serving diplomat

BLACK SEA INITIATIVE
We are concerned about the continuous slowdown of the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative, observed particularly in the months of April and May. In May, 33 vessels departed Ukrainian ports, half of the number compared to the previous month of April. Only three of those ships departed from the port of Yuzhny/Pivdennyi, one of the three Ukrainian ports covered under the agreement.
Exports in May reached 1.3 million metric tonnes of grains and other foodstuffs. That is less than half of the previous month.
The Russian Federation has informed the JCC [Joint Coordination Center] of its decision to limit registrations to the port of Yuzhny/Pivdennyi as long as ammonia is not exported. And currently, it is not. Since 24 May. the number of inspection teams at the JCC has been reduced from three to two. The limited registrations and reduced inspection teams contributed to the drop of the average daily inspection rate down to three. This is a very serious situation. We need to move forward.
The Initiative is bound for renewal on 17 July. Global hunger hotspots are increasing – as we have been notifying you on a regular basis - and the spectre of food inflation and market volatility lurks in all countries.
The UN Secretariat has put forward practical suggestions to all parties at the strategic and operational level keeping in mind the global benefits of the Initiative.
We will continue our intense engagement with the parties towards the full resumption of operations and continuation of the Initiative. In particular, we are looking for commitments on unconditional access of vessels to all three ports under the Initiative, increased number of successful inspections completed per day and predictable registrations to avoid undue delay of vessels, exports of fertilizers – and that includes ammonia- and the resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline.

UKRAINE
The Humanitarian Coordinator there, Denise Brown, condemned today new attacks on Kyiv this morning which killed civilians including one child. This sadly coincides with the country marking Ukrainian Children’s Day.
According to the UN Office for Human Rights, more than 1,500 children have been killed or injured in Ukraine since February of last year. The war also has had a devastating impact on the mental health and well-being of children, including millions who had to flee the country for safety, whether internally or outside.
We, along with our partners, will continue to work to ensure they can receive the support they so urgently need.

Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=01%20June%202023