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UN General Assembly 73rd Session

Special Coverage of the 73rd General Debate
25 September-1 October 2018

As world leaders gather in New York in the coming days, the curtain will rise on the busiest diplomatic season of the year at United Nations Headquarters.

Here, UN News gives you a front row seat to all the action during the General Assembly’s annual; high-level segment, known as the general debate. Follow monarchs, presidents and prime ministers, as they define global responses to many of today’s pressing challenges, including climate change, international migration, protracted conflicts, and extreme poverty and hunger.

King Mswati III, Head of State of the Kingdom of Eswatini, addresses the seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

Africa’s voice must be heard, says Eswatini leader, calling for UN reforms to make continent key player in peace and security

With Africa absorbing the most United Nations peacekeeping missions, King Mswati III, of Eswatini, said the continent’s voice must be featured “prominently and permanently” at the UN, advocating for increased participation of Africa in the work of the world Organization, particularly the Security Council.

President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine addresses the seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

In UN address, Ukraine President denounces Russia's ‘aggressive expansionist policies’

Devoting most of his speech before the United Nations General Assembly to castigating Russia for what he said was its “2014 annexation of Crimea” and backing separatists fighting in the Ukraine’s east, Petro Poroshenko, President of Ukraine, said that only international action will stop Moscow’s “aggressive expansionist policies.”

President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi Mansour of the Republic of Yemen addresses the seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

Yemen in the grip of war imposed by Iran-backed militia, country’s President tells UN assembly

The Yemeni Government is striving to restore peace, security and stability and provide essential services to its people, while the country remains gripped by a war imposed by Iran- and Hizbullah-backed armed militias, Yemen’s President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi Mansour told world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

UN Photo/Manuel Elías

‘Don’t give up on the Central African Republic’, urges UN humanitarian coordinator

Don’t give up on the people of the Central African Republic, or CAR, or the chance that a lasting peace can finally be established there.

That’s the plea from Najat Rochdi, who is UN Deputy Special Representative in CAR, as well as humanitarian coordinator there.

In an interview with UN News on Wednesday, she explained that 64 per cent of people there need assistance this year, and the humanitarian budget for the year is less than 40 per cent funded.

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9'48"
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

Prisoner, paediatrician, president: how Michelle Bachelet’s background informs her new role as UN human rights chief

As former President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet knows the hard realities of politics that Heads of Government face as they try to push through their agenda.

Her earlier life was very different: she was detained and tortured under the Chilean dictatorship and later worked as head of the medical department for an NGO helping child torture survivors.

And now, Ms. Bachelet is the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, tasked with co-ordinating human rights activities across the UN, and supervising the Human Rights Council.

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Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, President of the Council of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, addresses the seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

Capitalism’s greed fomenting terrorism, hurting sustainable development, asserts Cuban President

The consequences of capitalism, imperialism and neoliberalism are not only manifesting in fascism and conflicts around the globe, they are also diverting much needed resources which could have helped implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or address climate change impacts, the Cuban President told world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.