78th United Nations General Assembly Kicks Off

New York, September 19 (QNA) - The 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly kicked off Tuesday at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where the session’s work includes the SDG Summit, the Global Finance Summit, and three high-level meetings on health, climate and youth, in addition to a special meeting of the UN Security Council on Ukraine. In his speech opening the UNGA in New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the world faces a set of existential threats, such as the climate crisis and technology, which are still in a chaotic transition phase. The UN Secretary-General emphasized the urgent need to reform the Security Council to better reflect the realities of today’s world and redesign the international financial architecture, stressing the need not to hesitate in working for a just peace in line with the United Nations Charter and international law. In his speech, Guterres pointed out that problems will not be able to be addressed effectively if international institutions do not reflect the world as it is, affirming the need for countries to contribute to fulfilling their obligations under the United Nations Charter. In this context, he said that the right to peace will be guaranteed if every country fulfills its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations. Regarding the Palestinian issue, he said that the escalation of violence and bloodshed in the occupied Palestinian territories is leading to heavy casualties among civilians and that unilateral measures are escalating and undermining the possibility of reaching a two-state solution. On Libya, Secretary-General Guterres said that Derna represents a sad snapshot of the state of our world, where the flood of inequity, of injustice, of inability to confront the challenges in our midst. He pointed out that the dams in Derna were broken after years of war and neglect, and bodies are washing ashore in Libya’s Derna. The Secretary-General also touched on the issue of Sudan, which is sliding into a large-scale civil war, with millions fleeing and the country facing the risk of partition. He also touched on the war in Ukraine and its effects, and that all means must be followed to alleviate the suffering of civilians in Ukraine and abroad, and the Black Sea Initiative is one of these ways. (QNA)