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.

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the seventy-third session of the General Assembly, gavels to a close the General Assembly’s annual general debate.

UN Assembly wraps up annual general debate, its global multilateral role reaffirmed; now comes the task of reform

1 October 2018

Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the opening of the general debate of the General Assembly's 73rd session.

Climate change and multilateralism figure high on first day of UN General Assembly debate

25 September 2018

United Nations General Assembly prepares to hold a meeting on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.

On day two of UN General Assembly’s annual debate, it’s multilateralism all the way

26 September 2018

Wide view of the General Assembly Hall at the opening of its seventy-third session, on 18 September 2018.

On day three, of UN Assembly debate, Israel and Palestine put sharp focus on complexities thwarting peace

27 September 2018

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados addresses the seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly.

On Day four of UN Assembly debate, leaders from vulnerable island States turn out in force to plead for climate action

28 September 2018

Secretary-General António Guterres (right) briefs press on the occasion of the opening of the seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly on 20 September 2018. At left is his Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

UN Photo/Manuel Elías

UN chief seeking ‘renewed commitment’ to global rules and values, as world leaders head to New York

20 September 2018

UN Affairs

UN chief António Guterres on Thursday called for a “renewed commitment to a rules-based global order” and to the organization he leads, highlighting his key themes for discussion during the High-Level week of the General Assembly, beginning on Monday.

A sign outside the UN General Assembly building highlights the hashtag for attendees to use to promote the general debate.

UN Photo/Kim Haughton

6 things to know about the General Assembly as UN heads into high level week

20 September 2018

UN Affairs

Every year, in September, global leaders and change-makers gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York for two weeks, to discuss the burning issues of our time and set the global agenda for the year ahead. The 73rd session of the UN General Assembly opened this week and the body’s annual high-level segment – formally known as the ‘general debate’ – begins on Tuesday, 25 September, where every country’s leader gets to address the world.