UNGA begins general debate to address global issues

Alsharq Tribune-Otaify 

Representatives from United Nations (UN) member states, including some 150 heads of state and government, will take turns at the podium of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to deliver an address on global issues during the UNGA general debate that kicked off on Tuesday.

In his address to the UNGA, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world has "entered an age of reckless disruption and relentless human suffering," with the principles of the United Nations "under siege" and the pillars of peace and progress "buckling under the weight of impunity, inequality, and indifference."

Noting that the world is becoming increasingly multipolar, Guterres said multipolarity without effective multilateral institutions courts chaos.

"The choices we face are not part of an ideological debate. They are a matter of life and death for millions," he said, adding that peace rooted in international law is humanity's first obligation.

Stressing that "human rights are not an ornament of peace -- they are its bedrock," he said these rights -- social, economic, political, civil and cultural -- are universal, indivisible and interdependent.

And while "we have the solutions and tools," he said the fuel to achieve them through the shared roadmap of the Sustainable Development Goals needs financing, but aid cuts are wreaking havoc.

The general debate will conclude on Sept. 29. Representatives and heads of state and government will also attend a series of high-level conferences and hold bilateral meetings during the High-level Week from Sept. 22 to 30.