UNGA80

Over 190 world leaders spoke from the General Assembly podium during high-level week – underscoring the UN’s enduring relevance as a form of “life insurance” for many of the world’s developing countries, said President Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday.

“Houses burned. Neighbours killed. Hope vanishing.” With those stark words, General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock opened a high-level UN conference on Tuesday, as alarm rises over the impact of Myanmar’s deepening crisis which threatens to destabilise the wider region.

The United Nations remains “the house of diplomacy and dialogue” in a divided world, General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock said as she closed the 80th session’s general debate, urging nations to convert the week’s momentum into concrete action on peace, climate change and institutional reform.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Monday, Danish Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen warned that the “collective inability” of the international community to address crises in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, “must not prompt us to submit to a world ruled by brute force.”

Addressing the UN General Assembly on Monday, the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea gave a muscular defence of his country’s stance on nuclear weapons, also highlighting strides towards economic development.

Nepal’s UN Ambassador Lok Bahadur Thapa delivered a comprehensive address to the General Assembly’s high-level debate on Monday, emphasising both domestic reforms and the urgent need for international solidarity to tackle global crises.

More than eight years after over 750,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar for sprawling camps in Bangladesh, the crisis remains unresolved. On Tuesday, world leaders, UN officials and civil society groups will convene in New York for a high-level summit to confront not just the humanitarian emergency, but the geopolitical deadlock that perpetuates it.

Deputy UN Secretary-General Amina Mohammed thanked the crowd at New York’s Global Citizen Festival on Saturday for using their voice for justice and “refusing to give up on a better world.”

Bruno Rodríguez Parilla, in his address to the General Assembly on Saturday, said that there can be no effective global response to serious challenges because the current world order "reflects a bygone era, when most developing countries did not even exist as independent states." 

In his address to the General Assembly, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s Minister for External Affairs outlined the failings of a “gridlocked” UN, whilst asserting the need for more international cooperation and a reformed Organisation.