UN General Assembly 73rd Session

Reminding the General Assembly on Thursday that Macedonia had been a co-founder of the United Nations, Gjorge Ivanov, President of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, strongly rejected a referendum on changing the name of his country, calling it “a flagrant violation” of sovereignty.

On Thursday, the newly-elected President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, told the United Nations, that “with a strong belief in a shared vision and a common destiny, Sierra Leoneans stand with the [international community] in meeting the world’s challenges.”

“Heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, chronic lung disease, depression” – just some of the illnesses outlined by World Health Organization (WHO) chief Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, who drove home the danger by asking delegates to stand up, when they heard the name of an illness that had killed someone they loved: One by one, every single person in the room, got to their feet.

World leaders joined with United Nations entities on Thursday to reaffirm their continued personal commitment to support efforts to combat sexual exploitation and abuse across the Organization.

Haitian President Jovenel Moïse on Thursday called on the international community to provide the necessary development aid as the Caribbean island nation prepares for the transition nest year of the United Nations mission to a non-peacekeeping presence in the country.

Taking the podium of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, President Mahmoud Abbas declared that “Jerusalem is not for sale and the Palestinian people’s rights are not up for bargain.”

“Blatant violations of international law” were foremost on the mind of Nicos Anastasiades, President of Cyprus, as he brought the issue to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, urging States to readjust their policies in “hope for a better future.”

If the leadership of North Korea follows a diplomatic path to end its nuclear weapons programme, then a “much brighter future lies ahead” for its people, the US Secretary of State told the Security Council on Thursday.