Daniel Johnson covers this week's happenings at the UN.
We hear from Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, as he told Press that he was satisfied that progress had been made.
“We are not planning or aiming through this to draft a new constitution for Syria, this has to be done by the Syrians. We are rather trying, and we intend to pursue trying to lay the ground for the Syrians to do exactly that, in the context of an overall political solution that is in the context as you know, of Resolution 2254.” )
Staffan de Mistura will be briefing the Security Council today and is aiming for a new round of talks in June.
In other news the World Health Assembly begins today. As well as discussing the response to major health crises, such as Ebola, Zika, Yellow Fever, & Cholera, the Assembly will also be electing a new WHO head this week as Dr Margaret Chan is stepping down.
There are three candidates;
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus - Ethiopia
Dr David Nabarro - GB
Dr Sania Nishtar - Pakistan
This WHA ends on Wed 31 May
Daniel also brings us information about this week's cultural activities. There's a library talk at the UN this coming Tuesday 23rd May at 4pm.
Looking at the Sustainable Development Goals and, in particular, the 3rd goal listed; - how are we going to support an ageing population.
- with experts from public health, psychology, public policy and urban governance
Register at unog.ch/librarytalks
Photo: Special Envoy for Syria press briefing.
Staffan de Mistura, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, greets the journalists after his press briefing on the last day of the 6th round of the Intra-Syrian talks, Geneva. 19 May 2017.
UN Photo / Violaine Martin