UN News Daily Guide: health focus, youth and tech for development, gender violence, water in Mongolia
UN Affairs
On the occasion of the 73rd General Assembly, the UN is hosting a plethora of events with some of the world’s most prominent leaders and experts, to set the pace on dozens of critical global topics. To help you navigate the frenzy and make sure you don’t miss out on anything important, UN News has prepared this fourth daily guide to what’s going on.
Here’s what you need to know for Thursday 27 September (Please note: all timings are based on the New York time zone, Eastern Daylight Time, or EDT).
General Debate: day 3
- For the third day of the General Debate, 38 Heads of State and Government are scheduled to address the General Assembly, including the Presidents of Haiti, Palestine, the European Council, Israel, Chile as well as the Prime Ministers of Spain, Bangladesh, Uganda and New Zealand. The complete list of speakers is available here.
The General Debate runs all day every day except for Sunday until 1 October, and you can watch it all live on UN Web TV.
Health at the centre
- Every year, nearly 3 in 4 deaths worldwide – 41 million – are due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), aka chronic diseases. The most common are cardiovascular illnesses, cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes. As tobacco use, lack of physical activity, alcohol and unhealthy diets can increase the risk of NCD, effective prevention and education can lower the rates. A high-level event on the Prevention and control of NCDs will be held from 10 am to 5 pm, with opening statements from UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus. The entire event will be broadcast online.
- At 7:45 am, the 2018 report of the UN Secretary-General’s Independent Accountability Panel for Every Woman, Every Child, Every Adolescent, will be launched. The question this year is Who is accountable for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health in the 2030 Agenda, with a special focus on the private sector. The list of speakers here is once again top tier, with various Ministers participating as well as the UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, the Executive Director of the UN Population’s Fund (UNFPA), Natalia Kanem, and the President of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Børge Brende. Follow the conversation live here.
- Another event will explore how collaboration in Europe and Central Asia can help end HIV, tuberculosis and viral hepatitis. This will start at 8 am and will also be livestreamed.
Youth and tech: Leaping towards the SDGs
- It’s also day 4 in the SDG Media Zone (#SDGLive), with a special focus on climate change and the role of technology and data to improve lives worldwide. Some of top-flight speakers on Thursday include World Food Programme (WFP) chief, David Beasley; Google Earth Outreach Manager, Rebecca Moore; and Bollywood actress and Goodwill Ambassador Dia Mirza.
You can watch everything as it happens but you can also catch up later on all the recordings here.
Protecting everyone’s rights…
- Have you ever heard of the “Spotlight Initiative”? It’s a joint effort by the UN and the European Union to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. A high-level event at 8 am will examine how cooperation in Latin America can help eliminate it - one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations. In addition to several ministers, the list of speakers includes UN deputy chief, Amina J. Mohammed, and the head of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
Follow the conversation via video stream and on social media with #SpotlightEndViolence. Watch it here. - Upliftingly titled "Good Human Rights Stories," an event at 11:15 am will aspire to promote a fresh positive narrative on human rights in the world. Fourteen Member States and the European Union will come together for a high-level gathering in the presence of UN chief António Guterres. The event can be followed live here.
…and the environment
- At 1:15 pm it’s the inaugural meeting of the Carbon Neutrality Coalition, launched in 2017 by 16 countries and 32 cities committed to developing long-term low-emissions development strategies. Watch it here.
- Wrap up the day with a movie screening! For centuries, Mongolians have treasured water above everything else, a commodity so precious they call it “Blue Gold”. The UN in Mongolia produced a film with the same name, investigating how climate change has affected water supplies in the East Asian nation, and the consequences for communities across the country. The film will be screened at 6:30 pm – and also livestreamed on UN Web TV – followed by a panel discussion with the UN Mongolia Resident Coordinator, Beate Trankmann.
The above is only a curated selection of high profile events. For a comprehensive list of everything that you can follow remotely, this calendar should help.
>>> Find all of UN News’ coverage of the UN 73rd session of the General Assembly carefully collected here.