UN Chief at Financing for Development Dialogue & other topics - Daily Briefing (26 September 2019)

Noon briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Daily Noon Briefing:
- General Assembly
- FFD Summit,
- SG Remarks
- China/ Africa
- CAR
- UNFCCC
- Afghanistan
- Pakistan
- The Bahamas-Sudan
- Press Briefing Today
-Cassandra Waldon
Highlights
General Assembly
As of yesterday, we had 81 Heads of State and 42 Heads of Government attending the proceedings, along with six Vice Presidents, six Deputy Prime Ministers, 53 ministers, five chairs of delegation and three observers – for a total of 196 attendees represented at this year’s briefing.
Up through yesterday, more than 8,000 delegation passes and more than 2,300 media passes were issued by our colleagues. There were more than 28,000 passes issued for special events.
And as of 20 September, 630 meetings had been requested, roughly 119 of which would take place at the Head of State/Head of Government level.  The number does not include bilateral meetings between Member States.  We don’t have that number yet.  But just for your information, last year, we had over1,676 bilats.

FFD Summit
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development. At the start of his remarks he took a moment to pay tribute to former French President Jacques Chirac, who passed away this morning. The Secretary-General said Mr. Chirac was “a great friend with whom I had the pleasure of working in the European Council for many years,” and he praised his pioneering commitment to the environment. “France and the world are losing today a great statesman, defender of democracy and dialogue between peoples,” he said.
We do expect a fuller, a more official statement a bit later.
The Secretary-General said financing for Development is “the test of our seriousness” about ramping up the efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and stressed that without adequate funding, it will not be possible to deliver for people and planet.
He noted that almost one third of the world’s least developed countries are currently in high debt distress and that of particular concern are small islands developing states many of which are wrestling with the costs of climate change.
There are signs of progress, however, he pointed to the responsible banking principles adopted earlier this week, which commit the banking industry – worth $35 billion – to sustainable practices.
The Secretary-General also said that next month, he will convene 30 Chief Executive Officers from every region to launch the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance, which collectively manages nearly $16 trillion, and he called on all countries to support efforts to align the international financial system behind the SDGs.
Full Highlights: