By Welile Nhlapo
The 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), convened predominantly in person with 193 members heads of state and government, was the first at the UN headquarters since the declaration of Covid-19 as a pandemic by the World Health Organization and worldwide restrictions to contain its spread.
UNGA 77 took place last month, under the theme “A Watershed Moment: Transformative solutions to interlocking challenges”. This year, there were 195 speakers. This included speeches from three permanent observers – Palestine, the Holy See and the EU – as well as speeches from the UN secretary- general and the president of the General Assembly, who delivered a closing speech.
The order of speakers is generally determined by factors that include geography and the position of the speaker. Because of the continuing war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was granted special dispensation by a vote to address the General Assembly via a pre-recorded video. The General Assembly is the pre-eminent organ of the UN where all member states enjoy equal rights and votes.
The gender of the speakers were 173 men and 22 women. Women’s voices at the General Assembly are typically few.
This time around, the number was less than half, only nine of whom were heads of state or government, an improvement from last year when only 18 women spoke.
The president of last year’s General Assembly convened the first UNGA platform of women leaders, with the aim to address the gap.
During the meeting, participants said it could take anywhere between 130 and 300 years to achieve gender parity.
High-level meetings of the 77th Session included:
Transforming Education Summit: Sept 16,17 and 19
Amid an education crisis, the UN secretary-general convened the Transforming Education Summit to mobilise solidarity and solutions to recover pandemic-related learning losses, reimagine education for the future and reignite global efforts to deliver education-related Sustainable Development Goals.
World leaders joined “Leaders Day” discussions, a major highlight of the General Assembly’s 77th session.
The event was preceded by a two- day segment focused on youth and solutions to scale up global support and action.
SDG Moment: Sept 19
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) moment serves to place an annual spotlight on the Sustainable Development Goals that took place in the beginning of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week. It was held as the world faces its deepest cost-of-living crisis that carries huge implications for the advancement of the SDGs, especially in developing countries.
Platform for Women Leaders: Sept 20
The General Assembly convened female heads of state and government for an event titled the “UNGA Plat- form of Women Leaders”, to discuss priority issues on the international community’s agenda and identify solutions to today’s complex and interlinked challenges.
It is a special initiative of the Assembly president and UN-Women to help enhance the focus of the 193-Member organ on gender equality.
The theme for this year is “Transformative solutions by Women Leaders to Today’s Interlinked Crises”.
General Debate: Sept 20 to 26
This is the busiest diplomatic session of the year at the UN head- quarters in New York. Heads of state and government explored solutions to the intertwined global challenges under the theme, “A Watershed Moment: Transformative solutions to interlocking challenges”.
30th Anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of Minorities
As requested by a General Assembly resolution, a high-level meeting was convened to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Persons of Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.
Leaders’ round-table on climate change
Amid the worsening climate crisis, the secretary-general, with the president of Egypt, hosted a closed Leaders’ Roundtable on Climate Action, bringing together a small but representative group of heads of state and government to reboot international co-operation on climate action.
The aim was to have a frank and informal exchange in the lead-up to COP27 set to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt at the end of the year.
Security Council’s high-level meeting on Ukraine
Foreign ministers of the current members of the security council held the meeting at the security council chamber, to debate on the war in Ukraine.
Other meetings included:
– Commemorating International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
– Ending the Covid-19 Pandemic.
– Accelerating Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions.
– High-level Meeting on the Sahel.
The meetings were the formal ones that were agreed upon to be held during this 77th session of UNGA as part of the programme for this year. There were as usual many bilateral and other meetings held on the side- lines of the formal ones.
The period is a hive of diplomatic activities in the UN building and other venues in the Manhattan area of New York. The meetings keep diplomats in missions in New York and at country headquarters level. Heads of state and government are not exempted from a few hours of sleep and endless meetings.
Many of the issues affect all regions and member states. The sessions are important for developing countries as this is the forum where they have an equal voice and votes with all other member states of the UN.
For those of us who have had the privilege and honour to represent our country – and having worked in the Secretariat – can attest to the value and importance of multilateral- ism as the best system within which to navigate all means of sustaining global peace, security, stability and development.
*Welile Nhlapo is South Africa’s former ambassador and national security adviser.