UNITED NATIONAL, September 13 (IPS) – As the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly sessions began on September 20, the official speaker list included 92 heads of state (HS) and 56 people. head of government (HG).
But the “usual suspects”, mostly leaders of authoritarian regimes, have gone missing, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, Bashar Syria’s al-Assad, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Myanmar’s maligned military leaders.
Some of these autocrats are accused of war crimes, genocide, human rights abuses, suppression of journalists, and suppression of gender empowerment and civil society organizations (CSOs). – all with a purpose with the UN.
One Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the absentees as “a gallery of veritable political etiquette”.
And as world leaders gather, the UN will also go into lockdown next week with activities within the Secretariat severely restricted — and the construction of a virtual “no-fly zone”.
Thomas G. Weiss, a renowned scholar of international relations and global governance, with special expertise in UN politics, told IPS: “I don’t believe you can read much about the their absence as they had held in previous sessions . ”
“The General Assembly is an equal opportunity forum — thugs and champions alike have the podium and no time limits need to be respected,” said Weiss, who served as Presidential Professor at China. Center for Graduate Studies, City University of New York, and Honorary Director of Ralph Bunche, said the Institute for International Studies.
Other authoritarian leaders who have ignored the UN in a bygone era include Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Hafez al-Assad of Syria, and two Kims from North Korea: Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-Sung.
Several leaders from the West, including Germany, for inexplicable reasons, skipped his sessions at the UN and sent their second-in-command.
But Fidel Castro of Cuba, Muammar el Qaddafi of Libya and Yasir Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) spoke before the General Assembly (GA) in the 1960s and 70s.
Samir Sanbar, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and former head of the Department of Public Information told IPS that the level of engagement and coverage will reflect the UN’s relevance in times of national turmoil. this economic uncertainty.
He said “famous speakers will aim to present their national credentials to an international audience and demonstrate their international standing to their national audience.
“Despite the political rhetoric, even the heads of state criticized by the United Nations find a personal need there,” he notes.
Sanbar pointed out that former US President Donald Trump, who has persistently attacked the UN, appeared at the main table of the GA opening ceremony. lunch.as head of the host country (and subsequently hosted several visiting heads of state at his nearby Trump Tower residence).
President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil will seek to maintain his country’s regular position as first speaker. In the past, Libya’s Qaddafi marked his GA attendance by tearing up the UN Charter. But he still managed to keep his delegate, Abdel Salam Ali Treki, Chairman of that same GA session.
“Let us hope that the attendance of so many heads of state and governments in this session will attract more interest and public interest than in the past two years (when the United Nations closed by the pandemic).
“As you will recall, the statements made by more than 90 heads of state at a previous session did not receive a single mention while several participants left to attend the “Global Concert” “in Central Park, Sanbar, who served under five different minister-generals. during his career at the United Nations.
Andreas Bummel, Executive Director, Democracy Without Borders, told IPS it is sad that the UN is a stage for totalitarians to disseminate their propaganda.
“Whether they come to New York to do this every September could depend on many factors. Each case should be considered separately. In general, if they stay away, I believe one shouldn’t read too much into it,” he noted.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters September 9 “the mood inside the UN Secretariat is business and very busy, just like we do before any General Assembly. . Of course, this is the first General Assembly we’ve been in in person since 2019. So it really creates a sense of excitement and coming back in person. ”
“I think the message is to look around and look at all the challenges we face today. Not one of them can be resolved unilaterally by a country. Whether you look at climate change, whether you look at conflict, hunger, it’s all interconnected, I don’t know any more… what definition can we give that is bigger than the problems? multilateralism needs multilateral solutions,” he argued.
And we hope that Member States will continue to seek solutions for future generations and for these generations in an atmosphere of cooperation, even as they continue to disagree on many issues. topic,” declared Mr. Dujarric.
Addressing the closing session of the General Assembly’s 76th session, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the current session, like the previous one, is marked by a deeper set of challenges. “Rising prices, eroding purchasing power, growing food insecurity and the shadow of a global recession,” plus “the invincible global pandemic – and the emergence of Another health emergency is monkeypox.” And deadly heat waves, hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters, he added.
But speaking of the upcoming 77th session, Guterres said they will continue to experiment with the multilateral system more than ever. “And it will further test cohesion and trust among Member States. The road ahead will be challenging and unpredictable.” “But by using our commercial tools – diplomacy, negotiation and compromise – we can continue to support people and communities around the world. We can pave the way for a better, more peaceful future for all.” And we can renew faith in the United Nations and the multilateral system, which remains humanity’s best hope.
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