Undaunted by the global forces shaping their societies and challenging their very existence, the leaders of small countries — which comprise about half of the United Nations membership — took centre stage in the General Assembly today, reminding the world of their service to bygone power structures and outlining visions for progressive cooperation that favours their ingenuity and mettle.
Climate change continues to pose an existential threat to many small island developing States, even as the coronavirus pandemic presents an immediate crisis, world leaders said today as they beamed their pre‑recorded messages into a socially distanced seventy‑fifth General Assembly hall.
Fears that the COVID‑19 pandemic is reversing hard‑fought development gains, particularly in Africa, were conveyed today with 33 Heads of State and Government taking the digital stage as the General Assembly continued its seventy‑fifth session under unprecedented conditions.
While the COVID‑19 pandemic represents a stress test for the international community, it is also an opportunity to build a fairer, greener global economy, the General Assembly heard today as it continued its general debate with pre‑recorded video messages from 35 Heads of State and Government around the world.
World leaders gathered in pre-recorded videos for an unprecedented opening of the General Assembly’s annual general debate today, as the United Nations Secretary-General described the epic upheaval wreaked by COVID-19 across the globe, wiping out decades of development gains and laying down an ultimatum for nations to stand united in weathering the human and economic onslaught.
In a high-level meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, world leaders in the General Assembly gathered in a virtual format today to adopt a declaration honouring the multilateral framework put in place by its founders in 1945 and pledging to better live out the promise to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of its General Committee, today adopted a work programme and agenda for its seventy‑fifth session, deciding to include the item “responsibility to protect” in its discussions over the coming months and to take note that the COVID‑19 pandemic will affect practical arrangements of forthcoming events.
The General Assembly concluded its seventy-fourth session on Tuesday, with outgoing President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande (Nigeria) praising delegates for their progressive action, most notably in passing a widely co-sponsored resolution at the outset of COVID-19 epidemic to ensure fair global access to medicines and vaccines.
The General Assembly convened today to hold the first meeting of its thirty-first special session on the COVID-19 pandemic, adopting one decision — and taking note of six others recently approved through the organ’s temporary silence procedure — related to the session’s leadership and other modalities.
The General Assembly adopted two resolutions today on the global response to COVID-19, nearly six months after the novel coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), alongside a third resolution on the fight against malaria under way in Africa.
