Page 3 - United Nations General Assembly

UN chief calls global situation 'unsustainable' as annual meeting opens

UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres warned world leaders Tuesday that impunity, inequality and uncertainty are creating an unsustainable world" where a growing number of countries believe they should have a get out of jail free card. We can't go on like this, he said as the General Assembly's annual debate among presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and other leaders began. Citing deepening geopolitical divisions, wars with no end in sight, climate change and nuclear and emerging weapons, he said humanity is edging towards the unimaginable a powder keg that risks engulfing the world. But, he said, the challenges we face are solvable if the international community confronts the uncertainty of unmanaged risks, the inequality that underlies injustices and grievances and the impunity that undermines international law and the UN's founding principles. Today, a growing number of governments and others feel entitled to a "get out of jail free' card, he said in a reference to the classic

Unversed in UNGA? Stumped by SDGs? Here's glossary of UNGA meeting lingo

The UN General Assembly's yearly meeting of world leaders is here and with it, an array of acronyms, abbreviations, titles and terms that can be confounding to observers. Here is some key vocabulary, decoded. For starters ... UNGA: Acronym (yes, people do pronounce it UN'-gah) for the UN General Assembly's High-level Week". It's the international organization's biggest annual event, inviting presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and other top leaders of all 193 UN member countries to speak to the world and each other. Although New Yorkers sometimes just use General Assembly to describe what many experience mainly as a week of street closures and whizzing motorcades, the assembly actually isn't just this meeting. It's a body that convenes countries' ambassadors throughout the year to discuss a wide range of global issues and vote on resolutions. GENERAL DEBATE: The centrepiece of the week, it gives each country's leader (or a designee) the mic for a state-of-the-world speech from i

UNGA: World leaders discuss 'path for future' but outlook seems gloomy

Facing a swirl of conflicts and crises across a fragmented world, leaders attending this week's annual UN gathering are being challenged: Work together not only on front-burner issues but on modernising the international institutions born after World War II so they can tackle the threats and problems of the future. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued the challenge a year ago after sounding a global alarm about the survival of humanity and the planet: Come to a Summit of the Future and make a new commitment to multilateralism the foundation of the United Nations and many other global bodies and start fixing the aging global architecture to meet the rapidly changing world. The UN chief told reporters last week that the summit was born out of a cold, hard fact: international challenges are moving faster than our ability to solve them. He pointed to out-of-control geopolitical divisions and runaway conflicts, climate change, inequalities, debt and new technologies like ...

Developing nations urge world's richest to do more on climate at UNGA

Leaders of small island states most at risk from rising sea levels said it was time for those countries that burn most of the fossil fuels blamed for rising temperatures to stop paying lip service

Biden to address UN General Assembly and meet world leaders in New York

During this event, Biden will address the assembly on September 24, outlining his administration's priorities and vision. His speech will focus on fostering international cooperation

India an avid, committed advocate of multilateralism: UNGA Prez Francis

Describing India as a leader at the United Nations, General Assembly President Dennis Francis has said the country has been an avid and committed advocate of multilateralism and as a democracy of 1.4 billion people, it has a bright future in making a continued strong contribution to global affairs. The remarks by Francis, the President of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, came ahead of the end of his year-long tenure on Monday as head of the 193-member UN body. There's no doubt about it - India is definitely a leader at the United Nations. India has been an avid and committed advocate of multilateralism, which is very much valued by the United Nations, Francis told PTI in an exclusive interview here. Former Prime Minister of Cameroon Philemon Yang will take over as President of the 79th Session of the General Assembly on September 10. Francis underlined that he expects India's role to continue and be strengthened. "We know of course that India has an ambition to become

Here's how smartphones became India's superhero in fight against poverty

'India has been able to lift 800 million people out of poverty over the past five to six years simply by the use of smartphones,' said UNGA President Dennis Francis

Terrorism rising, Islamic State extremist's attacks set to double: UN envoy

The top UN envoy for Syria told the Security Council on Monday that the threat of terrorism is resurging with attacks by Islamic State extremists set to double this year, endangering civilians already facing a protracted state of displacement and dire humanitarian conditions. UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen said Syria is riddled with armed actors, listed terrorist groups, foreign armies and front-lines 13 years after President Bashar Assad's crackdown on peaceful protests against his government turned to civil war. Nearly a half million people have died in the conflict and half the country's pre-war population of 23 million has been displaced. The Islamic State group declared a self-styled caliphate in a large swath of territory in Syria and Iraq that it seized in 2014. It was declared defeated in Iraq in 2017 following a three-year battle that killed tens of thousands of people and left cities in ruins, but its sleeper cells remain in both countries. Pedersen warned the Security ...

Russia holds UN meeting on global cooperation; US terms it 'hypocrisy'

Russia's foreign minister accused the United States on Tuesday of holding the entire West at gunpoint and impeding international cooperation, a claim the US ambassador to the United Nations denounced as hypocrisy by a country that invaded neighbouring Ukraine. The finger-pointing came at Russia 's showcase event during its presidency of the UN Security Council this month, and it chose the topic Multilateral cooperation for a more just, democratic and sustainable world order. Russia's top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, flew in from Moscow to preside. Just before the meeting, Ukraine's UN Ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, read a statement on behalf of about 50 countries, including the United States, whose ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was among the several dozen UN envoys surrounding him. The joint statement said the international community must not be distracted from Russia's flagrant violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and from Moscow cynically attempting to present itself as

TTP largest terror group in Afghanistan, could turn extra regional: UN

The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remained the largest terrorist group in Afghanistan and greater collaboration between al-Qaeda and the terror group could transform it into an extraregional threat, according to a UN report. The 15th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning the Taliban and other associated individuals and entities said that the TTP remained the largest terrorist group in Afghanistan, with an estimated strength of 6,0006,500 fighters. The report said that one member state expressed concern that greater collaboration between TTP and al-Qaeda could transform TTP into an 'extraregional threat'. It said that al-Qaeda's support of TTP includes the sharing of Afghan fighters for its "tashkils - in this context, military staffing or a formation and training camps in Afghanistan. Training provided by al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) has resulted in TTP shifting tactics and high-profile attacks against hard targets. One interlocut

Caribbean seeks help after Hurricane Beryl devastates small islands

Caribbean officials on Friday demanded more access to funding and help in fighting climate change, weeks after Hurricane Beryl devastated the region. The urgent request was made at an OAS meeting in Washington, DC, where officials noted that the historic storm exposed the vulnerability of small islands. Beryl killed at least seven people in the Caribbean and razed nearly all infrastructure on some of the islands that make up Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. (We) are on the front line, said Virginia Albert-Poyotte, the delegate for St. Lucia, who asked that climate financing be made more available and that financial institutions include special disaster clauses. She and others noted that small Caribbean islands often have rickety infrastructure and fragile economies dependent on tourism and fishing. A resolution approved Friday by the OAS stated that previous hurricanes have led to higher insurance premiums, unemployment and poverty. It called for the immediate operation

2025- 2034 to be decade to combat sand storms from Africa to China: UN

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday declared 2025 to 2034 the United Nations Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms extreme weather events that are increasing and threatening health and economies from central Africa to northern China. Uganda's UN Ambassador Godfrey Kwoba, who introduced the resolution on behalf of the Group of 77, a powerful UN group of 134 developing countries and China, told the 193-member assembly the initiative aims to halt and mitigate the negative effects of sand and dust storms through international and regional cooperation. The assembly adopted the resolution by consensus and a bang of the gavel by assembly president Dennis Francis. In a 2022 report, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification said sand and dust storms have increased dramatically in frequency in recent years. It said storms can exacerbate respiratory illnesses, kill crops and livestock, and increase desertification, though documentation of their impact is limited. The ...

Taliban's morality police intimidating Afghans, instilling fear: UN

The Taliban's morality police are contributing to a climate of fear and intimidation among Afghans, according to a UN report published Tuesday. Edicts and some of the methods used to enforce them constituted a violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the report said. The Taliban set up a ministry for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice after seizing power in 2021. Since then, the ministry has enforced decrees issued by the Taliban leadership that have a disproportionate impact on women and girls, like dress codes, segregated education and employment, and having a male guardian when they travel. The punishments attached to non-compliance with instructions and decrees are often arbitrary, severe and disproportionate, said the report from the UN Mission in Afghanistan. Sweeping bans with a discriminatory effect on women have been introduced. Human rights violations, as well as the unpredictability of enforcement measures, contribute to a climate of fear and

UN Secy-Gen Antonio Guterres calls for global unity, action at SCO Summit

He urged stronger commitments from developed countries and innovative financing mechanisms to support climate action

From Black Sea to US Midwest, extreme climate threatens crop output

Global wheat prices jumped to a 10-month high in May after adverse weather trimmed yields for the maturing crop in Russia, the biggest exporter

India can play bigger role in climate talks; should host COP: Sunita Narain

India can play an "even bigger" role in climate talks by emerging as the voice of the global south and presenting the challenges faced by them, leading environmentalist Sunita Narain said as Prime Minister Narendra Modi eyes hosting the UN climate summit in 2028. In an interaction with PTI editors here, Narain, the Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said the Conference of Parties, under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, was the only forum where multilateral decisions can be taken to deal with the challenges posed by climate change. "We can play an even bigger role as a country which stands for countries of the south. We have challenges. We can talk about our challenges, not paper over them. And, we can help the world to find a better way ahead. We can play a leadership role," Narain said. Modi, in his address at the Conference of Parties (COP-28) in Dubai, had offered to host the climate conference in India in 2028. The COP presidency ...

Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama, Somalia set to get seats on UNSC

Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia were set to get seats on the UN Security Council in a secret ballot Thursday in the General Assembly. The 193-member world body is scheduled to vote to elect five countries to serve two-year terms on the council. The 10 non-permanent seats on the 15-member council are allotted to regional groups who usually select their candidates but sometimes can't agree on one. There are no such surprises this year. Last year, Slovenia soundly defeated Russia's close ally Belarus for the seat representing the East European regional group, a vote that reflected strong global opposition to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This time, the regional groups put forward Somalia for an African seat, Pakistan for an Asia-Pacific seat, Panama for a Latin America and Caribbean seat, and Denmark and Greece for two mainly Western seats. The five council members elected Thursday will start their terms on Jan. 1, replacing those whose two-year terms end on D

UN court orders halt on military ops in Rafah; Israel unlikely to comply

The United Nations' top court ordered Israel on Friday to immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, but stopped short of ordering a cease-fire for the enclave. Although Israel is unlikely to comply with the order, it will ratchet up the pressure on the increasingly isolated country. Criticism of Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza has been growing, particularly since it turned its focus to Rafah. This week alone, three European countries announced they would recognize a Palestinian state, and the chief prosecutor for another international court requested arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, along with Hamas officials. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also under some pressure at home to end the war, which was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people, most civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostage. Thousands of Israelis have joined weekly demonstrations calling on the government to reach a deal to bring .

West prefers India over China, economic prospects robust: UN expert

He further said the oil price and special import arrangements that India has with Russia is also 'helping India tremendously in terms of keeping its import costs down'

UN revises India's 2024 economic growth projection upwards to nearly 7%

The United Nations has revised upwards India's growth projections for 2024, with the country's economy now forecast to expand by close to seven per cent this year, mainly driven by strong public investment and resilient private consumption. The World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2024, released Thursday, said, India's economy is forecast to expand by 6.9 per cent in 2024 and 6.6 per cent in 2025, mainly driven by strong public investment and resilient private consumption. Although subdued external demand will continue to weigh on merchandise export growth, pharmaceuticals and chemicals exports are expected to expand strongly. The 6.9 per cent economic growth projections for India in the mid-year update is an upward revision from the 6.2 per cent GDP forecast made by the UN in January this year. The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2024 report that was launched in January had said that growth in India was projected to reach 6.2 per cent in 2024, amid robus