General Assembly: Press Release

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the opening of the seventy-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York today:

On 17 June 2020, the United Nations General Assembly elected Volkan Bozkir of Turkey as President of its seventy-fifth session, which runs from September 2020 to September 2021.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the closing of the seventy-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York today:

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the virtual thirty-fifth International Prayer Breakfast, in recognition of the opening of the seventy-fifth United Nations General Assembly session, in New York today:

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the General Assembly and Security Council on the 2020 Report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace, in New York today:

The General Assembly fleshed out the agenda of its upcoming seventy-fifth session today, deciding by recorded vote to include the situation in Ukraine and the responsibility to protect, on the second day of its first in-person proceedings since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March.

The General Assembly decided on 14 August to postpone a meeting of a committee tasked with drafting a global treaty to combat online crimes, noting with concern current COVID‑19 pandemic restrictions.

The General Assembly adopted 10 resolutions and decisions by its silence procedure from 6 to 12 August, including one extending its seventy-fourth session until mid-September and several postponing events and deadlines for report submissions, reflecting ongoing COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions.

The General Assembly — operating under the silence procedure it has embraced amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic — adopted five decisions on 21 and 22 July, including one extending that procedure until 31 August and another setting out hybrid virtual and in-person modalities for its upcoming high-level general debate.

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations General Assembly will mark Nelson Mandela International Day (18 July) with a virtual informal meeting on 20 July.  The meeting will also feature official recognition of the laureates of the 2020 United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize.