NEW YORK — The High-Level Week of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly is set to begin, with the area surrounding United Nations Headquarters entering one of its busiest periods of the year.
Preparations are in full swing for weekend events, diplomatic receptions, the SDG Media Zone and a wide range of high-level meetings. Venues are being assembled, stages and lighting systems installed, media equipment tested and guest services finalized.
Heads of state and government, representatives of international organizations, business leaders, civil society delegates and journalists from around the world are arriving in New York as global attention once again turns to the United Nations.
The week will bring together world leaders for international dialogue, multilateral cooperation and renewed commitments to collective action.
This year’s high-level agenda includes meetings on climate action and a just transition, pandemic preparedness, sea-level rise and the 25th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action against racism. Progress toward achieving the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 will also be a major focus.
According to the United Nations, only 36 percent of the SDG targets for which sufficient data are available are currently on track or showing moderate progress. Another 49 percent are progressing too slowly, while 15 percent have fallen below their 2015 baseline levels.
The theme of this year’s General Debate is “Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations That Delivers for All.”
Khalilur Rahman, Bangladesh’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, will preside over the session during his one-year term.
Nearly 130 heads of state and government are expected to attend the High-Level Week in person. The General Debate will take place from September 22 through September 28, providing world leaders with an opportunity to present their national priorities and positions on urgent international challenges.
U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 22, the opening day of the General Debate. The U.S. State Department has said that the American delegation will pursue a clear objective during the gathering: advancing prosperity through peace and encouraging the United Nations to return to its foundational responsibilities.
Race to Select the Next UN Secretary-General
Ahead of the High-Level Debate, the 15-member United Nations Security Council conducted its third informal straw poll on Friday, September 18, involving eight candidates seeking to succeed Secretary-General António Guterres, whose second five-year term ends on December 31, 2026.
Rebeca Grynspan, the former vice president of Costa Rica and current Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, emerged as the narrow frontrunner with nine “encourage” votes.
Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former foreign minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, placed second with eight “encourage” votes.
Ugandan diplomat and former UN Under-Secretary-General Olara Otunnu, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina, and former Senegalese president Macky Sall each received five “encourage” votes.
The September 18 vote marked the third informal poll in the selection process. Grynspan led the first round on July 30, while Rodrigues-Birkett finished first in the second poll on August 21.
Further rounds of voting are expected before the Security Council formally recommends a candidate to the 193-member General Assembly for appointment as the next Secretary-General.
Times Square Global Live reporting from New York
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