The United Nations' biggest annual gathering of world leaders is underway in New York, and it runs through the end of the month.
The General Assembly's 81st session formally opened on September 8, with Bangladesh's foreign minister, Khalilur Rahman, elected as its president. But the main event, the general debate where every one of the UN's 193 member states can address the hall, began on Tuesday, September 22, and continues through Saturday before resuming next week. Nearly 130 heads of state and government are expected to take the podium during that stretch, each given a chance to lay out national priorities in front of a global audience. This year's theme is centered on restoring trust and helping the UN deliver for all its members at a time when multilateral institutions face real questions about their relevance and effectiveness.
Two conflicts have shaped much of this week's speeches: the war in Ukraine and the fighting that has touched Iran and several of its neighbors earlier this year. Iran's president addressed the Assembly on Wednesday as part of the wider diplomatic push. Alongside the speeches, the UN has scheduled a run of high-level side meetings this week, including sessions on sea level rise on Thursday and on pandemic preparedness on Friday, giving smaller and climate-vulnerable nations dedicated space to raise issues that might otherwise be crowded out by great-power diplomacy.
For a general reader, the General Assembly is less about binding decisions, most resolutions there are non-binding, and more about signaling. It is the one week a year when almost every government on Earth has a seat at the same table and a microphone, and diplomats and traders alike watch the speeches closely for hints about where conflicts are heading and which countries are aligning with each other. Oil markets in particular have been tracking the diplomatic tone this week given the unresolved tensions in the Middle East.
The general debate continues through Saturday and resumes Monday. Watch for the tone of remaining major-power speeches and any sideline meetings that produce concrete agreements rather than statements of principle.
Does the General Assembly make binding decisions?
Most of its resolutions are non-binding; the week is mainly a venue for leaders to state national positions publicly and hold sideline diplomatic meetings.
Who is speaking this week?
Nearly 130 heads of state and government are expected to address the general debate between September 22 and 28.