What: The 72nd Regular Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 72) is convening at UN Headquarters with the General Debate opening on Tuesday, September 19, 2017.
When: Oxfam will be present at High Level Events at UNGA during the week September 18-22, 2017
Where: UN Headquarters, New York.
Why: The UNGA is the democratic heart of the UN. It is the main global forum for discussing international political cooperation, threats to peace and economic development, as well as the huge range of social, humanitarian and cultural issues that come under the remit of the United Nations.
In a world where conflicts are continuing unabated, inequality is increasing, the displacement crisis is worsening, and the international community is struggling to respond to fatal food insecurity, multilateralism has an increasingly important role.
This will be the first UNGA for French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump, as well as for the new Secretary-General, António Guterres. He is pushing for a surge in diplomacy for peace; aims to highlight the links between climate change and sustainable development; and hopes to strengthen gender parity within the UN system itself.
Oxfam press officers at UNGA:
Lauren Hartnett
Mobile:+1 (203) 247-3920
Skype: lauren.hartnett6
@lhartnett615
Attila Kulcsar
Mobile: +44 7471 142974
Skype: LondonW1
@attilalondon
1. Oxfam spokespeople at the UNGA
Oxfam experts will be available for interview on a variety of topics, including Oxfam International’s Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, and Oxfam America’s new President Abby Maxman, who will be just back from South Sudan. Oxfam will be participating in a range of activities covering refugees and migration, tax havens, the sustainable development goals, the private sector, climate change, and humanitarian crises such as the hunger crises in Yemen, Syria, South Sudan and the Lake Chad Basin.
Oxfam’s experts are available for interviews in English, Spanish, German, Arabic and Danish.
- Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director Oxfam International
- Sarnata Reynolds, Policy Lead, Humanitarian Campaigns at Oxfam
- Abby Maxman, President of Oxfam America
- Kathryn Achilles, Oxfam’s Senior Humanitarian Policy Advisor
- Susana Ruiz, Oxfam’s Fiscal Justice Policy Lead
- Uwe Gneiting, Private Sector Advisor at Oxfam America
- Kira Boe, Education Advocacy Advisor at Oxfam IBIS
- Heather Coleman, Climate Change Policy Manager at Oxfam America
- Dr. Mohga Kamal-Yanni, Oxfam's Senior health & HIV policy advisor
2. Key Dates: Press releases and UNGA events Oxfam is attending
- Monday September 18:
Oxfam press release on global displacement
Oxfam spokespeople: Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director Oxfam International
Sarnata Reynolds, Policy Lead, Humanitarian Campaigns at Oxfam
Press release highlighting the lack of meaningful progress in finding solutions for refugees since the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants in New York this time last year. World leaders agreed at that summit to strike a deal – to be entered into in 2018 – that would decide how the world would respond to the 65 million people forced to flee their homes. We have just 12 months left to tell our governments to deliver on their promise to find a more effective response to the refugee crisis, whereby responsibility for refugees is shared by all.
Event - Secretary General’s roundtable on climate change
Oxfam spokesperson: Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director Oxfam International
Event - High-Level Follow-Up Meeting of the Global Deal
Oxfam spokesperson: Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director Oxfam International
The launch of the Global Deal last year marked the starting point for efforts that have now entered an intensive phase.
Event - From Tax Competition to Tax Cooperation: An Alternative to the Race to the Bottom
Oxfam spokesperson: Susana Ruiz, Oxfam’s Fiscal Justice Policy Lead
Fair taxation can help in fighting inequality, realizing human rights, and ensuring the implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). http://www.icrict.org
- Tuesday September 19
Event - WEF Sustainable Development Impact Summit
Oxfam spokespeople: Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director Oxfam International
Uwe Gneiting, Private Sector Advisor at Oxfam America
Winnie will be on the panel of this event which looks at ways to promote a 'fourth sector' and will mark the launch of Oxfam’s Future of Business initiative to encourage more equitable business that disrupt shareholder supremacy and tackle inequality.
- Wednesday September 20:
Event - The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants: One Year On
Oxfam spokespeople: Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director Oxfam International
Sarnata Reynolds, Policy Lead, Humanitarian Campaigns at Oxfam
Event - High-Level Humanitarian Event on South Sudan
Oxfam spokesperson: Abby Maxman, President Oxfam America
Oxfam America President Abby Maxman will be the NGO representative on the panel of a high level event on September 20 fresh from her trip to South Sudan. Abby will be talking about the priorities and challenges of working there and the importance of peace.
- Thursday September 21:
Oxfam press release on Yemen food crisis
Oxfam spokesperson: Sarnata Reynolds, Policy Lead, Humanitarian Campaigns at Oxfam
Recent research shows that the food security situation in Yemen has deteriorated since 2015 because of the impact of the war on food prices, rather than because of a food shortage. With a shattered economy, higher prices and the absence of salaries, millions of Yemenis can no longer afford to feed themselves with the average price of the minimum food basket 30 percent higher than before the conflict.
Event - High-Level Event on the Famine Response and Prevention
Oxfam spokespeople: Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director Oxfam International
Abby Maxman, President of Oxfam America
Event - UN Global Compact Leader Summit
Spokespeople: Abby Maxman, President Oxfam America
Uwe Gneiting, Private Sector Advisor at Oxfam America
Abby will be on the panel for this year’s event which will focus on the SDGs and feature the launch of the “SDG Blueprint” which details expectations of the private sector under the SDGs.
Museum without a Home – a public installation for UNGA
Where: Herald Square, New York – outside Macy’s Department Store
When: September 21, 2017, 8am to 6pm
For one day only, the award-winning “Museum without a Home” travels from the Greek capital, Athens, to transform the public area of Herald Square outside Macy’s Department Store into a space of humanity and hope. As the global displacement crisis continues to worsen, some people in communities where displaced people arrive are showing great warmth and hospitality towards refugees - now their new neighbors after fleeing their countries to escape war and persecution.
Oxfam in association with Amnesty International originally created Museum without a Home (http://www.museumwithoutahome.gr/en) to thank those people who had offered pieces of their lives, both metaphorically and literally, to this cause. A child’s toy, a pair of shoes and a cooking pot are among the actual objects that will be on display in New York that women, men, and children gave to refugees to make their life easier and to comfort them in their new homes or along their journeys.
Event - Ministerial Roundtable on Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region
Oxfam Spokesperson: Kathryn Achilles, Oxfam’s Senior Humanitarian Policy Advisor
- Friday September 22:
Oxfam press release on access to medicines
Oxfam spokesperson: Dr. Mohga Kamal-Yanni, Oxfam's Senior health & HIV policy advisor
One year on from last year's UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines, the pharmaceutical industry backed by the US, EC and other rich countries continues to block the UN from taking action to implement the recommendations of a UN expert panel to reduce the cost of vital medicines.
Event - High-Level Event on the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen
Oxfam spokesperson: Sarnata Reynolds, Policy Lead, Humanitarian Campaigns at Oxfam
3. Oxfam will also be following Education at UNGA
Oxfam spokesperson: Kira Boe, Education Advocacy Advisor at Oxfam IBIS
There is growing recognition that progress on the Sustainable Development Goal for education (SDG4) is fundamental to the achievement of all the other SDGs. But two years into implementation of the SDG framework, the increases in financing that are needed to make a breakthrough on achieving the 2030 Education agenda have not been made.
