Every year leaders from 193 countries gather for the United Nations General Assembly meeting. However, since the pandemic has begun, the format of conducting this meeting changed. 2020 saw a digital method of conducting, whereas 2021 explored the hybrid format wherein members joined either physically or virtually. Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives, being the Current President of the General Assembly opened the session. The theme for this year’s meeting was decided as Building resilience through hope – to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people and revitalize the United Nations”.
Antonio Guterres commenced the session with a strong speech explaining the world leaders to join hands in solidarity as the world is amidst its biggest crisis. Addressing the global concerns, he mentioned the lack of vaccines in the world, especially in the countries of Africa wherein 90% of its countries have not even received their first dose. The inequality in the distribution of the covid 19 vaccines is mammoth and countries need to take an initiative to bridge the gap. The state of the climate crisis is only ascending while countries are far from the targets set in the last convention. The biggest economic superpowers of the world are in a tug of war. Democracies and governments are falling and failing in countries. The education rate has drastically fallen since Covid. Women around the world are being victims of physical and sexual violence. The rise in misinformation is creating a divide now more than ever. Human rights are being outright violated while the world sits and watches. Setting goals for the upcoming 9 years, Guterres stated how we can prevent these global issues from taking over the place we call home. “We are on the edge of an abyss,” he said.
This congregation of countries discussed a myriad of topics related to global issues and their respective national issues. India highlighted the wonders a vibrant democracy can do while Tunisia termed democracy as irreversible in their country and asserted its presence stronger than ever, amidst the rising speculations of authoritarianism. As the following countries criticized the west for spreading misinformation and intervening in the internal matters leading to further unrest, the US vowed to help the countries in distress with its resources: Syria proclaimed for the country to be safe for the refugees to come back and that west has been taking advantage of the civil unrest. Belarus accused the West of waging a hybrid war and imposing sanctions in the wake of protests in the country. Further Belarus also blamed the west European countries for the migrant crisis on their borders and deemed it to be fabricated as an act of revenge.
North Korea pledged their testing of nuclear weapons, a means of strengthening their self-defense, declaring it as their right. Iran hinted towards their intention to develop nuclear power in their country. While these countries spoke for nuclear rights, Israel openly condemned Iran for strengthening its nuclear base with the intentions of dominating the region of the middle east under its “nuclear umbrella” and Bangladesh called for the elimination of nuclear weapons. This assembly saw Bahrain standing up for Palestine which had no representative and Afghanistan’s representative denying to partake in the sessions. The trio of the middle east- UAE, Bahrain, and Israel came together to discuss middle eastern solidarity and issues jeopardizing the same. Countries stressed towards the heaping issue of terrorism with Taliban into power, Pakistan aiding it and countries supporting it. Yemen called for countries to aid in fighting the deadly covid battle in their country. India assured the world that it would not stop manufacturing and distributing the vaccines across the world and invited global vaccine manufacturers to India.
The assembly recognized the issues being faced by countries at large and took note of suggestions for solutions for problems, worldwide. The question however has never been the acknowledgment of the problem but has been of no action towards it. As the UN moves into another year, it finds itself enveloped in a plethora of issues at its peak. With Solidarity being the motto, the UN aims to face these problems with absolute commitment and results.