UNITED NATIONS — The former Cameroonian prime minister took over the presidency of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, making a “clear appeal” to the divided nations of the world to come together and take action to tackle global challenges, from climate change and poverty to conflict and armed violence.
Philemon Yang told the 193-member world body that there were doubts about whether countries could join forces to address these and other pressing issues. But he said: “We must demonstrate that international cooperation remains the most effective tool at our disposal to address the profound and borderless problems we face.”
Yang, a former diplomat who served as prime minister of his West African country from 2009 to 2019, said the cornerstone of his one-year presidency “will be built on the principles of unity in diversity.”
He said peace and security will remain “of paramount importance” during his presidency.
“I will therefore urge the Assembly to intensify its determination to give priority to the resolution of conflicts, including the intractable conflicts in the Gaza Strip, HaitiAnd Ukraine, and to find sustainable solutions to the situation in the Great Lakes region and elsewhere in Africa,” Yang said.
Outgoing General Assembly President Dennis Francis urged the United Nations, which was established after World War II, to fulfill its mandate to maintain international peace and security.
“It is no understatement to say that the scale of man-made human suffering that we see around the world is simply staggering,” the former diplomat and Trinidad and Tobago ambassador said, pointing to Gaza and other conflicts.
But Francis also warned that millions of people today live in extreme poverty and hopelessness, and “if we continue on our current path, millions more will face poverty and hunger by 2030.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Emphasis was also placed on the need for countries to work together.
He said the 78th session of the General Assembly, which ended Tuesday morning, had been “a tumultuous year” of persistent poverty, inequality, injustice, division, violence and conflict – and that it was also the hottest year on record.
“But this session also ends in a time of growing hope and inspiration about what we can achieve when we work as one,” the UN chief said.
At the opening of the 79th meeting on Tuesday afternoon, Guterres told diplomats: “Step by step, solution by solution, we can rebuild trust and faith in each other and in what we can achieve through cooperation and solidarity.”
Yang will chair the next gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly, first at the Summit of the Future on September 22-23, convened by the Secretary-General to boost multilateral action on global issues – and reform global institutions established after World War II. including the United Nations.
Immediately after the summit, world leaders will hold their annual international meeting from September 24 to 30. Public speeches will be given and there will be many private meetings where much of the world’s business will often be dealt with.