Plenary

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ address to the opening of the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly, in New York today:

The Political Declaration adopted yesterday leaves world leaders with “a to-do list” to turn words into action to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations chief said today at the close of the SDG Summit, proposing key measures, including reform of the global financial system and increased availability of liquidity to countries in debt distress.

The international community “seems incapable of coming together” to respond to a slew of growing global challenges and rising geopolitical tensions, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned the General Assembly today as its annual high-level debate commenced, which also featured world leaders underlining the importance of multilateralism — and of the United Nations — for cooperation in a fragmenting world.

Following the Russian Federation’s 30 August veto of a draft resolution that would have renewed certain Security Council measures against those obstructing peace in Mali, speakers in the General Assembly considered its implications amidst the demanded withdrawal of United Nations presence from a country still in crisis.

The General Assembly today adopted its work programme for the seventy-eighth session, deciding to include a range of new items on its agenda, including the “Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction” — a historic maritime biodiversity treaty adopted on 19 June by the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, delivered on behalf of the Secretary-General, at the closing of the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York today:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, delivered on behalf of the Secretary-General, at the opening of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York today:

The General Assembly concluded its seventy-seventh session today, with outgoing President Csaba Kőrösi (Hungary) urging Member States’ international cooperation, despite geopolitical conflicts, to forge future-proof integrated solutions to global challenges and uphold their promises to the world’s 8 billion people.

The General Assembly opened its seventy-eighth session today, with its newly elected President calling on Member States to come together and commit to advancing the causes of peace, prosperity and sustainability in the face of a world beset by a series of cascading challenges.