Elizabeth Morgan | 81st UNGA: Can trust be restored?

The 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) started on Tuesday, September 8 with various meetings and events, including on the Sustainable Development Goals, artificial intelligence, and peace. The customary high-level general debate featuring heads of state and government, foreign ministers and other government representatives started on September 22.

This year, one could be forgiven for thinking that the UN has been absent from the world scene as major news items referencing the body concerned the March 25 vote on the resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade and racialised chattel slavery the gravest crime against humanity; and the September 4 vote to correct the world map, adopting the equal area projections which show the correct size of continents, such as South America and Africa.

The UN has been absent from its key role of maintaining international peace and security as conflicts continue to rage in Ukraine, the Middle East, including a new war in Iran, and the continuing civil war in Sudan. The UN’s ability to provide humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable has been limited. The US president, Donald Trump, and his administration have had the effect of casting a pall over the UN multilateral system.

This year, the theme of the UNGA is ‘Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all”. The General Assembly (GA) president is H.E. Khalilur Rahman of Bangladesh from the Asia-Pacific region.

Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, is leading Jamaica’s delegation.

The High-Level General Debate

This general debate on Tuesday, September 22 starts with opening remarks by the secretary general and the GA president. In keeping with UN tradition, the debate will start with Brazil, followed by the USA. The new UK prime minister, Andrew (Andy) Burnham, will also speak. It is noted that on this first day, speakers from CARICOM member states will be Suriname, Dominica, and Trinidad and Tobago.

By the time this column is published on Wednesday, the news cycle could be filled with the rambling, incoherent and perhaps jaw-dropping remarks delivered by the US president. We should expect something sensible from the UK’s prime minister, who, it is certain, will want to make a good impression in his first UNGA address. We would be holding our breaths to hear from the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will not address the UNGA. President Xi will be on a state visit to the USA in Washington, DC, indicating that US-China relations is a priority. PM Carney will be at the UN for various events and bilateral meetings, but will not address the Assembly.

Restoring trust?

Restoring trust, which has clearly been broken among UN members even more since 2025, will be very difficult to achieve in the short term. As PM Carney has said, too many agreements are written in pencil; leaders cannot be trusted; and some partnerships no longer count for much. Too much is transactional. Fear has been governing relationships.

The UNGA provides opportunities for bilateral meetings on the sidelines, and also for various groups to meet, such as CARICOM’s COFCOR and the G77. COFCOR, as a group, takes the opportunity to meet with other countries and regions. By the way, CARICOM is an observer at the UNGA. It would be very interesting this year to hear which bilateral meetings are being held, which groups are meeting, and what issues are on their agendas. Are they seriously focused on the functioning of the multilateral system in spite of the challenges posed? Are they willing to step up to lead, not just talk?

The impression is that the Latin American and Caribbean region is quite fractured and weakened by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Nevertheless, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (CELAC), under the presidency of Uruguay, is reported to be functioning as a group.

Candidates for New UN Secretary General (SG)

The second term of UN Secretary General António Guterres of Portugal, ends this year, and the process is in train for electing his replacement. The candidates still competing are Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica; Carolyn Rodriques-Birkett of Guyana; Rafael Grossi of Argentina; Olara Otunnu of Uganda; Macky Sall of Senegal; Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces of Ecuador ; and Ivonne A-Baki of Ecuador. The top candidates from the straw polls are Rebeca Grynspan and Carolyn Rodriques-Birkett.

Birkett, a Guyanese Amerindian, is a politician, former foreign minister, director at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and Guyana’s permanent representative to the UN. She has been endorsed by the CARICOM Heads of Government. The CELAC group will also be supporting only candidates from Latin America and the Caribbean.

This is a period when the UN needs courage and wisdom at its helm.

Best wishes to Carolyn Rodriques-Birkett, who, if she obtains the support of all members of the Security Council and of the UNGA, would become the first woman to head the United Nations and the first from the CARICOM region to hold such a high international post.

Elizabeth Morgan is a specialist in international trade policy and international politics. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.