UNGA

In this special anniversary episode of our UNcomplicated podcast, hosts Sinjuda and Jason get to stay in their pyjamas to interview our colleague Reem Abaza, who spent the COVID-19 emergency working at the heart of the UN, as spokesperson for the President of the 74th General Assembly. 

Music credit: The Veil, by the band Signal and Report, written by Chris Hall and Noah Miller; along with their track, Abbey Minor.

Plus, ‘Wave Wash’, by Ketsa.

UN Secretary-General's address to the Opening of the General Debate of the 75th Session of the General Assembly, on Tuesday, 22 September 2020.

UN Secretary-General's opening remarks at #UNGA press conference, on 16 September 2020

Back in June, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, was elected by acclamation to preside over the 74th session of the General Assembly, which begins on Tuesday.

In his first major interview with UN News, Mr. Muhammad-Bande told Cristina Silveiro that poverty eradication, inclusion and quality education would be his top priorities in office.

Calling education “a complex matter”, he spelled out that “whoever is denied an education is denied almost everything”.

Welcome to the first edition of UNcomplicated, a new podcast from UN News, that grew out of a coffee shop conversation between UN staffer Sinduja Srinivasan and her friend Jason DeWall, who had never set foot inside UN Headquarters.

“The UN can seem intimidating and complicated”, our dynamic hosts told us. “We aim to make the United Nations accessible and straightforward”.

So, with the world leaders’ General Debate looming, which kicks off the latest UN General Assembly in a few days’ time, Sinduja and Jason set off with a microphone, to bring us this inaugural episode.

The previous two weeks of intense activity at United Nations headquarters were an “historic” convergence of high-level events, said the spokesperson for the President of the UN General Assembly.

The Pope addressed the UN General Assembly as Member States voted to adopt new Sustainable Development Goals.

The annual debate of world leaders followed immediately, with a raft of global crises and issues on the agenda.

The “countdown” to ending the conflict in Syria can only begin if UN Security Council resolutions on combatting terrorism are implemented, according to the country’s Deputy Prime Minister.

In an address at the UN General Assembly on Friday, Walid Al-Moualem urged the international community to do more to stop terrorists from entering his country.

Dianne Penn reports.

Duration: 2'58"