Middle East, Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan Among the Situations in Focus as World Leaders Gather for the General Assembly
The annual whirlwind of diplomacy during the United Nations General Assembly is well underway in New York. The Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and its head, Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, play an important part in many of the deliberations.
25 SEPTEMBER 2024, NEW YORK: The United Nations General Assembly, or more precisely the brief period of it known as the general debate, is the scene of hectic diplomatic activity every September in New York. It is the biggest regular gathering of world leaders, who for a few minutes make the rostrum of the General Assembly Hall their own bully pulpit.
But a lot of the action during the general debate takes place outside the Assembly’s walls. There are hundreds of “side events” convened variously by UN member States, UN entities and other international organizations and advocacy groups. Senior UN officials are also in high demand. The Secretary-General takes part in hundreds of “bilaterals”, meetings with national leaders and others. Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN’s political chief, accompanies the Secretary-General to many of those encounters, but she also has dozens of her own. The Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs is in the lead in preparing UN officials for their “bilats”.
This year, the situation in the Middle East is the focus of much of the attention during the general debate. Through day two of the discussions, the war in Gaza and the escalating hostilities across the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon feature in virtually all statements, with speakers stressing the need to prevent further spillover of fighting.
In the coming days, there will be side events on the Middle East, Syria, Sudan, Haiti and Myanmar, among others. Today there were high-level events on Yemen and Sudan, while yesterday, 23 September, senior-level officials took part in a discussion on the restrictions imposed on Afghan women and efforts to counter them.
On 26 September, there will be a Security Council informal interactive dialogue on UN-League of Arab States cooperation, with a focus on Gaza. Also that day, there will be an Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) High-Level Meeting, which will include a briefing by Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland.
Also on 26 September, there will be a meeting on “Syria’s dark reality: examining systematic torture and exploring justice and accountability.” On the same day, there will be a closed-door ministerial roundtable on missing persons in Syria.
On 30 September, there will be a high-level side event on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Myanmar, which will include a briefing by the Special Envoy for Myanmar Julie Bishop.
The foregoing list is only indicative. The diplomatic marathon that accompanies the general debate is set to last until 1 October.
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