The 74th United Nations General Assembly: A Week in Review
Heads of state, leaders, influencers, and many more, came to the United Nations for a high-level week at the 74th Session of the General Assembly (UNGA). This year’s main issues included climate change, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and universal healthcare.
On Friday the 20th of September, over 4 million people, the majority of them youth, marched in a strike for Climate Action around the world. For more than a year, young high school students have been striking every Friday in front of their local governments in protest for the protection of our planet. With the leadership of Greta Thunberg, millions of young people have joined the movement to fight for their future.
New York City, as the epicenter of the most important diplomatic week of the year, hosted the biggest climate strike run by youth — setting the stage the day after for the first ever UN Youth Climate Summit. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, with the support of the UN Foundation and UNA-USA, brought together about one thousand young people who have dedicated their lives towards climate action. 100 of them received the coveted Green Tickets, which allowed them to travel to New York and to bring their solutions for addressing the crisis. The Youth Climate Compact, adopted at the 68th UN Civil Society Conference, was also featured.
The energy of the climate weekend was conveyed on Monday at the Climate Action Summit. This time, the Summit focused mainly on commitments and specific actions taken by governments to fight climate change. This history-making event was the first time young people were given the initial chance to speak, before any of the more official VIPs. Youth from Brazil, India, and Sweden participated. In the mix (of course) was Greta Thunberg, who made one of the most outspoken, strong speeches given at the General Assembly. Only those countries, companies, and organizations with specific pledges and commitments were given a short time to voice their actions during this one-day event.
Following the Climate Summit, the UN convened a session which announced one of the most comprehensive declarations on Universal Healthcare Coverage (read more here). There were also a series of meetings around achieving the 17 SDGs during the next eleven years. Various companies, including SAP (which received our 2018 Humanitarian of the Year Award), hosted discussions on the responsibility of private industries to achieve the Global Goals.
Additionally, on September 24, our friends at OutRight International, co-hosted a high-level event with the UN LGBTI Core Group on ending hate speech against LGBTI people in social and traditional media. In support, UNA-NY has submitted an LGBTI Human Rights Consultation to the UNA-USA Shadow Report for submission to the UN Human Rights Council.
Several developing states still experience difficulties in funding projects for sustainable development. The UN meetings on Financing for Development brought States forward in committing resources to help the most vulnerable countries. Lastly, the week ended with a session on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), as these are the most vulnerable countries that are already facing the devastations of climate change. Some of them may even disappear in the near future, therefore a coalition of governments to protect these islands and tackle climate change was launched.
The same week, UN Secretary-General Guterres established the Circle of Leadership to reflect their resolve at the highest political level to prevent and end sexual exploitation and abuse. UNA-NY is joining these efforts at our UN Day Humanitarian Awards Gala Dinner on October 3rd, which will raise awareness of sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
Throughout this UNGA week, UNA-NY has been actively following the UN pulse through social media. Don’t forget to follow us at @UNANYC for more updates on the UN’s core activities and outcomes.