PNN – The 80th annual United Nations General Assembly begins today in New York with the participation of about 150 heads of state and government, as well as foreign ministers.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, citing TASS, international leaders are scheduled to discuss and exchange views over a week on major global challenges, including consolidating peace, sustainable development, protecting human rights, gender equality, managing artificial intelligence, combating infectious diseases and mental disorders, as well as the impacts of climate change.
The week-long event is being held to mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, and its main theme is “Together, We Are Better: 80 Years and Beyond for Peace, Development and Human Rights.”
Representatives from 193 UN member states, observers from the Vatican and the Palestinian Authority, as well as the European Union, will participate in the upcoming debates.
Speeches will be delivered by heads of state, government and international delegations. High-level meetings, along with hundreds of bilateral meetings and thematic events on the sidelines of the forum, will take place from 23 to 29 September – with a planned day off on Sunday.
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Opening
The general debate will begin with speeches by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Annalena Berbock, President of the 80th General Assembly of this international body.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be the first to address the gathering of world leaders, paying homage to a long-standing tradition. The tradition dates back to the time when Osvaldo Arana, the representative of Brazil and then Foreign Minister of the Latin American country, presided over the first and second special sessions of the General Assembly in 1947. After the Brazilian president, US President Donald Trump will speak.
About 30 speakers will speak on the first day, including the heads of state of Argentina, Vietnam, Iran, Jordan, Qatar, Poland, Serbia, Turkey and other countries. On the second day, about 40 speakers will be present, including the presidents of France, Ukraine, Finland and Slovakia.
Russian participation
The Russian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, will attend this year’s forum, where he is scheduled to address the gathering on September 27. Lavrov will also participate in multilateral meetings within the framework of BRICS, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the G20, and the Group of Friends of the United Nations Charter.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova previously told TASS that, as usual, dozens of bilateral and multilateral meetings with Lavrov, including with the American side, are being planned.
Masoud Pezishkiyan, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, left Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport for the United States a few minutes ago to attend the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Pezishkiyan, along with his delegation, traveled to New York to attend and speak at the 80th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly. During this trip, he is scheduled to meet with the heads of European countries, the region, and members of the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organizations.