Accelerating sustainable global development through UNGA General Debate
Recently, the UN headquarters in New York hosted the largest gathering of world leaders for the 78th session of its General Assembly. President Bola Tinubu made his debut at the event.
The General Assembly’s annual debate ritual started on Sept.19 ended on Sept. 26, with global leaders acknowledging the debate as the paramount platform for crafting collective solutions to humanity’s challenges.
With no fewer than 88 Heads of States, 42 Heads of State and Government, and over 650 ministers in attendance, the leaders noted the institutional challenges faced by the UN and proffered possible solutions to them.
In his closing address, Assembly President, Dennis Francis, highlighted the continued relevance of the General Assembly and UN`s commitment to delivering peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability to humanity.
“These developments are a welcome reminder that the United Nations remains focused on the collective challenges of our time,” he said.
Addressing ongoing conflicts in different parts of the world, Francis offered UN’s assistance in facilitating peace, friendship and dialogues among nations or groups in conflict.
According to him, the General Assembly held seven high-level meetings, delivered no less than four major political declarations.
“The political declarations are universal health care; work to end tuberculosis; pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response; and the need to urgently and ambitiously scale up sustainable development progress.
“The last-mentioned declaration – a result of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Summit – is a particularly remarkable win’’, he said.
Francis said the declaration on SDG was in recognition of the promise made in 2015 to drive sustainable development, as well as a commitment to push harder and close the gaps.
“This speaks to the continued relevance of the General Assembly and the commitment by the United Nations to deliver peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability to the peoples of our world.
“These developments are a welcome reminder that the United Nations remains focused on the collective challenges of our time,’’ he said.
Speaking on high level week, Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, there is a collective determination among stakeholders to achieve SDGs targets.
She also highlighted the importance of resources, citing the growing burden of debt on many countries, preventing them from adequately funding essential services in education and health.
“We are short of the resources but that’s why we’re pushing for the SDG stimulus.
“That is a low hanging fruit. That is something we can do with existing resources and institutions. And I hope by the end of this year, we’ll have something to say about that”, Ibrahim said.
In addition, Mohammed pointed out that a significant number of commitments were made at the Climate Ambition Summit.
Meanwhile, all the Heads of State and Government, and ministers that spoke on General Assembly rostrum shared their achievements, challenges, aspirations, and goals.
The First Head of State that spoke was Brazilian President, Luiz Lula da Silva, who said it was unfortunate that the world was becoming increasingly unequal.
By tradition, Brazil is the first speaker that opens the General Debate. It has spoken first for over seven decades.
This is because at the early General Assembly sessions, it volunteered to start when no other country did.
Silva said armed conflicts constituted an offence against human rationality and decried growing global inequalities.
He discussed his country’s role in spearheading climate change diplomacy within the Global South.
He called for urgent, comprehensive international cooperation to avoid worsening the climate crisis.
Also by tradition, U.S. is the second speaker as the host country and President Joe Biden delivered his speech after the Brazilian President.
Yet, for the second year in a row, the annual debate at the UN General Assembly is “darkened by the shadow of war, an illegal conquest brought without provocation by Russia” against Ukraine.
“Russia alone bears the responsibility for this war…and has the power to end it immediately,” he emphasised, asking whether the independence of any nation is secure “if we allow Ukraine to be carved up”, Biden said.
He said U.S. together with its allies and partners around the world would continue to stand with Ukraine as it defends its sovereignty, territorial integrity and freedom.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said that alongside its ongoing nuclear threat, Russia is also weaponising essentials like global food and energy markets, and using them “not only against our country, but all of us as well.”
The Ukraine leader, who made his first in-person appearance at the UN since the Russian Invasion of his country in 2022, said the impact of that weaponisation could be seen from Africa to South-East Asia.
He also said he would present a Ukrainian peace formula at the Security Council to serve as a framework to end aggression on terms set by the victimized country in an open manner.
Urging unity among countries, Zelenskyy said that while Russia is “pushing the world to the final war” Ukraine was doing everything possible to end aggression against any country.
Also speaking, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said a new world order is being born through a struggle between a neocolonial minority and a “global majority” seeking to end decades of western domination.
Turning to Ukraine, he said the West had “continued its ongoing militarisation of the Russophobic Kyiv regime”, brought to power via a “bloody coup” in 2014 and took that opportunity to “wage a hybrid war against our country”.
The aim has been the US-led offensive against Russia now stretching into outer space and disinformation online.
Lavrov said it was obvious that U.S. creation of subordinate alliances was “targeted against Russia and China” in a bid to sabotage more “inclusive” regional for a.
On his part, South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, called for diplomacy to address military takeovers in Africa.
Ramaphosa, who was the first African leader to address the gathering, said the global community should guarantee the essential qualities that define humanity.’’
Addressing the world leaders, President Bola Tinubu also frowned at the recent military takeovers in some Africa countries.
Tinubu affirmed democratic governance as the best guarantor of the sovereign will and well-being of the people, saying military coups are wrong.
“Military coups are wrong, as is any tilted civilian political arrangement that perpetuates injustice. The wave crossing parts of Africa does not demonstrate favour towards coups.
“It is a demand for solutions to perennial problems. Regarding Niger, we are negotiating with the military leaders,’’ he Tinubu who is also regional bloc, ECOWAS, chairman.
As over 13,000 country delegates, 2,600 members of the media, and more than 40,000 other participants participated in the general debate and its over 100 associated events.
Participants spoke with commitment to accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and the sustainable development goals.
Delegates were optimistic that if the declarations and outcomes of the event are implemented, they would enhance global peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.
