Elizabeth Morgan | 80th UN General Assembly: an unpredictable high-level week

THE 80TH session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) commenced on September 9. This should be a session commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations in 1945 with the firm support of the United States of America. The theme for this UNGA is ‘Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights’. The emphasis should be on reinvigorating multilateralism, accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing global challenges amid geopolitical shifts, technological advancements, and climate urgency. Delegations should be looking at the UN’s achievements and strengthening it for the future.

H.E. Annalena Baerbock, former foreign minister of Germany, was elected president of the 80th UNGA on June 2 as it is the turn of Western Europe to hold the presidency. The president’s priorities are making the organisation more efficient and effective; advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; and making the Assembly a “truly inclusive forum”.

There is, however, a dark shadow looming over the UN and multilateralism.

THE GENERAL DEBATE

The high level session, the general debate, commenced on Tuesday, September 23 and ends on Monday, September 29.

Delegations were arriving in New York from the weekend. The Palestinian leader will be participating remotely as he was not granted a visa to attend the session.

As is customary, after statements by the Secretary General, António Guterres, and UNGA president, the statements by heads of state and government will start with Brazil and the USA.

The statement by US President Donald Trump will be highly anticipated. He will be addressing the UNGA for the first time in his second term as US president. UN delegations will want to hear what he has to say about the conflicts in the world and his efforts to make peace, his economic and trade policies, his migration policy, and his position on the UN and multilateralism.

Other statements, which will be closely monitored, are those by Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will be hosting the Climate Change Conference, COP 30; South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, chair of the G20; Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas; Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov; the President of China, Xi Jinping; the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi; and the President of Turkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, should also be attending.

From this hemisphere, we may also want to hear the new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and the President of Colombia, chair of the Latin American and Caribbean Community, Gustavo Petro. The statement from Venezuela could be very interesting.

From CARICOM, the region will be watching for the statement by Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who is the current chair. We should also watch for the statement by the new Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar. The statement by Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley is usually anticipated. Haiti’s transitional leader, Laurent Saint-Cyr, is also expected to speak. The first CARICOM member to speak will be Suriname’s newly elected President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons.

Within the UN, the chair of the G77 and China, the developing country alliance, is now Iraq and, it seems, that Uganda is the current chair of the Non-Aligned Movement. We need to examine how effective these groups are in the UN today.

THE ISSUES

The issues of interest to the CARICOM countries will include:

· The global economic issues including the impact of US tariffs;

· The wars around the globe including the situation in Ukraine and Gaza. On Monday, September 22, the UN convened the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia;

· The future of the UN Sustainable Development Goals from which the US has withdrawn;

· The need for urgent action on climate change and climate finance from which the US has also withdrawn;

· Security issues, including controlling gangs and the inflow of small arms, drug trafficking, and US military activities in the Caribbean;

· The worsening situation in Haiti;

· Border disputes between Venezuela/Guyana and Belize/Guatemala;

· Intra-hemisphere migration with refugees from Venezuela and Haiti,

· The increasing challenges posed by artificial intelligence; and

· UN reform, the UN 80 Initiative.

UN REFORM

A new effort to reform the UN was recently launched. Called the UN80 Initiative, it goes beyond reforming the Security Council which has been in train since the 1990s. We are told that this new reform initiative is intended to streamline the entire operations of the UN system, sharpen impact, and reaffirm the UN’s relevance for a rapidly changing world. This will be quite an undertaking, but one which is seen as necessary in these uncertain times. This should be about strengthening the UN for the future.

This UNGA high level session could be quite unpredictable. It should be considered not to miss viewing. The statements are at the UN website. By now, we should all be hearing the news reports from the statements made on Tuesday morning.

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