Published20 September 2022, 03:03
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New YorkThe United Nations General Assembly kicks off in a world in crisis
War in Ukraine, climate disasters, food insecurity… The leaders have been following one another since Tuesday on the podium of the UN General Assembly put to the test by divisions.
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For nearly a week, some 150 heads of state and government from around the world will speak at this annual high diplomatic mass, which is resumed in person after two disrupted years by Covid-19.
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Traditionally, this first day gives pride of place to the speech of the American president, who as the leader of the country hosting the UN headquarters speaks in the first. But exceptionally – as on very rare occasions in the past – it will not be so: Joe Biden, who was at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Monday, postponed his intervention to Wednesday.
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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will be present with an opening speech at this 77th General Assembly that “does not water things down”, promised his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, referring to a “set, real and solution-oriented” table of a world “where geopolitical divisions put us all at risk”. “We meet at a time of great danger for the world”, Antonio Guterres said Monday, listing “conflicts and climate disasters”, “mistrust and division”, “poverty, inequality and discrimination”.
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Zelensky on video
On the danger side, the Russian invasion of Ukraine will be at the center of this high-level diplomatic week, with the speech on Wednesday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – on video thanks to a special authorization voted last week by member states – and on Thursday a Security Council at the level of foreign ministers.
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But the southern countries are increasingly annoyed that Westerners are focusing their attention on Ukraine. “We don’t just want to talk about ending the conflict in Ukraine. We want conflicts to end in Tigray, we want conflicts to end in Syria, we want conflicts to end wherever they appear in the world, “Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said on Monday during a preliminary day focused on education and development goals.
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Iranian nuclear power
In an attempt to respond to the concerns of some countries, Americans and Europeans organize a high-level meeting on food security on Tuesday, a consequence of this war affecting the entire planet.
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And the French President Emmanuel Macron, who on Tuesday will take the podium in the middle of the day, will insist on the need to avoid “fractures” between the countries of the North and the South. theme with several other leaders.
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These tensions caused by the war in Ukraine echo the North-South resentment in the fight against climate change. Poor countries, at the forefront of the devastating effects of global warming for which they are not responsible, are striving in particular to ensure that rich countries finally deliver on their pledges of financial aid.
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Two months after the COP27 UN climate conference in Egypt, it would be surprising if this climate crisis were not at the fore in the speech of Antonio Guterres who fought to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially those of fuel producers. fossils, one of his priorities.
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Brazilian Presidents Jair Bolsonaro and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz must also take the podium on Tuesday.
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is also in New York this week for his first General Assembly and the nuclear issue could once again be at the center of discussions. Ebrahim Raïssi in particular must have a meeting on Tuesday with Emmanuel Macron who in recent months has encouraged him during telephone interviews to accept the conditions proposed by the Europeans to relaunch the nuclear agreement of 2015 which should prevent Tehran from acquiring the atomic bomb in exchange for the lifting of the sanctions that suffocate its economy.
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This high-level week, however, has some notable absentees, most notably Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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(AFP)
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