Mr Harold Acemah
The 79th regular session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 79) will convene at the United Nations headquarters, in New York on Tuesday, September 10.
The theme for UNGA 79 is: ‘Leaving no one behind: Acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations’, which is consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN whose charter was signed by 50 original member states on June 26, 1945.
The principal purposes of the UN are to maintain international peace and security; develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples; achieve international cooperation in solving international problems; and be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
Against the background of ongoing vicious armed conflicts and wars raging in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, DR Congo and elsewhere, the United Nations appears to be toothless, spineless and almost unable to implement the purposes and principles for which it was formed and live up to the expectations of “we the peoples of the United Nations” for whom and in whose name the world organisation was established on October 24, 1945.
In accordance with the principle of geographical rotation, the president of the General Assembly will come from the African Group. On June 6, the General Assembly elected by acclamation Ambassador Philemon Yang, the former prime minister of Cameroon, to serve as President of UNGA 79. A former High Commissioner of Cameroon to Canada, Yang will succeed Ambassador Dennis Francis of Trinidad and Tobago.
UNGA 79 will adopt an agenda consisting of more than 170 items covering economic, financial, humanitarian, legal, political and social questions. The items will be considered in the plenary and six main committees of the General Assembly.
Summit of the future
Heads of state and government will meet and hold a summit conference at UN headquarters from September 22 to 23 to discuss and consider the critical challenges and gaps in global governance exposed by recent global shocks. The objective of the summit is to reaffirm commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UN charter while enhancing cooperation and laying the foundations for a vibrant multilateral system.
It is hoped that the summit will at the end of its deliberations adopt a negotiated pact for the future, an action-oriented document to bolster global cooperation and adapt to current challenges effectively for the benefit of present and future generations.
The General Assembly will thereafter hold three high-level plenary meetings of global leaders, experts and stakeholders on existential threats. The high-level meeting on sea-level rise which takes place on September 25 will address the urgent and escalating threat posed by rising sea levels which negatively affects all developing island countries.
The second high-level meeting taking place on September 26 on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) affords an opportunity for countries and stakeholders to renew efforts and accelerate progress in combating the growing threat of AMR to the international community. The third high-level meeting which takes place on September 26 will address the challenge and goal of achieving global nuclear disarmament.
As current chairperson of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77, Uganda is expected to play a leading and pivotal role in negotiations at UNGA 79 between developing countries and developed countries on economic, legal, political and social issues. One hopes that the Ugandan delegation to UNGA 79 is well prepared to carry out and shoulder its important and onerous duties and responsibilities.
Harold Acemah is a political scientist and retired career diplomat. [email protected]
