UN Affairs

Volkan Bozkir (right), President of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, hands the gavel over to Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

76th General Assembly gets underway at UN Headquarters in New York 

14 September 2021
Global

The COVID-19 pandemic has proved to be the most challenging period the world has seen since the Second World War, said the UN Secretary-General on Tuesday – as the 75th session of the General Assembly gave way to the new – deepening inequalities, decimating economies and plunging millions into extreme poverty. 

The President-elect of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid in the General Assembly hall.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

INTERVIEW: New UN Assembly president highlights hope 

14 September 2021

The incoming President of the General Assembly says that hope is desperately needed for those billions around the world struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, devastation, and strife. In his first major interview, he told UN News that the General Assembly, as the UN’s most representative body, is ideally placed to give shape to that hope.  

Students at a school in Hanoi Viet Nam.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

The future of international cooperation: Time to think big, urges Guterres

10 September 2021
Global

Celebrating the UN’s 75th anniversary last year, prompted major internal discussion about its future, and a new direction away from the post-World War Two consensus of its early days. These reflections have resulted in Our Common Agenda, a landmark new report released on Friday by the UN Secretary-General, setting out his vision for the future of global cooperation.

Volkan Bozkir, the President of the 75th General Assembly session, addresses the media as he prepares to end his presidency.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

World remains ‘far behind’ solving biggest global challenges: Bozkir 

9 September 2021

The President of the UN General Assembly, told reporters on Thursday, that the world is “far behind in being able to solve the greatest global challenges and achieve the SDGs.” 

UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld holds a press conference at UN Headquarters on 24 March 1960.
UN Photo

UN chief: Dag Hammarskjöld ‘set the highest standard for public service’ 

9 September 2021

The General Assembly this Thursday held a commemorative event to mark the 60th anniversary of the death of former UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, where current chief António Guterres, noted that in his passing, the world had lost “a noble servant of peace, and the United Nations lost one of our greatest.” 

Secretary-General Kofi Annan (left) consults his media team, including Edward Mortimer (2nd left) about a speech on Iraq in March 2003.
UN Photo/Stephenie Hollyman

‘His words set a standard and will long endure’: UN mourns passing of Edward Mortimer

21 June 2021
Global

Friends and former colleagues have been mourning the passing over the weekend of Edward Mortimer, the Chief Speechwriter for former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. 

António Guterres (right) takes the oath of office for his second five-year term as Secretary-General of the United Nations. The oath is administered by Volkan Bozkir, President of the seventy-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

António Guterres secures second term as UN Secretary-General, calls for new era of ‘solidarity and equality’

18 June 2021
Global

António Guterres was on Friday re-appointed to a second term as UN Secretary-General, pledging as his priority, to continue helping the world chart a course out of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Five States were elected by the General Assembly to serve as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for the 2022-2023 term.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

UN elects five new members to serve on the Security Council 

11 June 2021

Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were elected by the 75th session of the General Assembly on Friday to serve as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for the 2022-2023 term. 

Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives takes the podium after being elected President of the 76th session of the General Assembly.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Foreign Minister of Maldives elected next General Assembly President 

7 June 2021
Global

The UN chief welcomed the election on Monday of Abdulla Shahid, Foreign Minister of the Maldives, as President-elect of the 76th session of the General Assembly. 

Secretary-General António Guterres attends the wreath-laying ceremony to Commemorate International Day of UN Peacekeepers 2021.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

UN salutes ‘dedication and bravery’ of peacekeepers; recognizes contributions of youth toward peace  

27 May 2021
Global

With a focus for this year’s International Day of UN Peacekeepers on youth, peace and security, the UN chief told a commemorative ceremony on Thursday that “peace cannot be achieved without the active participation of young people”.