Special Coverage of the 74th General Debate
24 September-30 September 2019
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. This year, the debate will run alongside a series of key summits and meetings, guided by the UN’s landmark Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), seeking to boost action on climate change and accelerate progress on sustainable development:
♦ 21 September – Youth Climate Summit;
♦ 23 September – Climate Action Summit and the High-level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage;
♦ 24 and 25 September – Sustainable Development Goals Summit;
♦ 26 September – High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development;
♦ 27 September – Small Island Developing States.

Special Coverage of the 74th General Debate

Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, addresses the General Debate of the General Assembly’s 74th session.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

US President Trump says countries have ‘absolute right’ to protect their borders

24 September 2019
UN Affairs

The path to peace and a better world “begins at home,” United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, urging countries to look after their own interests on issues like trade, people smuggling and illegal immigration, and denouncing “open border activists who cloak themselves in the rhetoric of social justice.”

Tijjani Muhammad-Bande (centre), President of the seventy-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly, opens the General Debate of the 74th session of the General Assembly.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

‘We need solutions’, not cynicism; UN Assembly President urges world leaders to do more to tackle global ills

24 September 2019
SDGs

The fact that world leaders have convened at United Nations Headquarters in New York is “a veritable testament to the primacy of this great multilateral body”, the General Assembly President said on Tuesday, opening the Organization’s annual General Debate.

Jair Messias Bolsonaro, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, addresses the general debate of the General Assembly’s seventy-fourth session.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

Brazilian President speaks out against ‘media lies’ surrounding Amazon fires

24 September 2019
Peace and Security

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro spoke out against what he characterized as “media lies” about the Amazon and  alleged manipulation of the indigenous people who live there.

Secretary-General António Guterres presents his annual report on the work of the Organization ahead of the opening of the General Assembly’s 74th General Debate.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

In ‘world of disquiet’, UN must deliver for the people, Guterres tells General Assembly

24 September 2019
Peace and Security

We are living in “a world of disquiet”, the United Nations chief told the High-level session of the General Assembly on Tuesday, urging the Heads of States present to advance “common good” while upholding “shared humanity and values”.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) banners outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York. 20 September 2019.
UN News/Conor Lennon

UN chief calls for ‘a fair globalization’ with first-ever Global Goals Summit

24 September 2019
SDGs

“We need more investment, more political action, more priority for a fair globalization”, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in an interview on Thursday, when asked about his expectations for the first-ever Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit, on 24-25 September at New York headquarters.