The 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly set a record for participation in the most important political forum on Earth, while raising hopes for the 2030 Agenda, its authorities said today.
With the presence of 88 heads of government, the largest ever, the general debate closed its doors on Tuesday after also bringing together 42 heads of government, four deputy prime ministers and 50 other speakers including ministers, deputy ministers and heads of delegation.
At the conclusion of the session, the President of the Assembly, Dennis Francis, described the unity of nations as necessary through his call to action so that all countries find within themselves the will to work in solidarity.
This major event hosted one hundred parallel events and two thousand bilateral meetings between representatives of member states.
In addition, 21 women took to the podium in the General Assembly Hall, recording the longest speech of the year by a Burkina Faso representative, while Rwanda gave the shortest intervention at just over nine minutes.
Nearly 13,000 representatives and diplomats arrived at the United Nations headquarters in New York, while 2,500 journalists covered the meetings.
In the view of UN Under-Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, the Sustainable Development Goals Summit, which took place on 18-19 September, represented a moment of hope and additional momentum ahead of the 28th climate summit, COP28.
But he added that the week would have had a more tangible impact in the absence of the leaders of the permanent members of the Security Council: China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom.
He said that until the last minute, the high-level commitment made by countries in the Political Declaration on the Sustainable Development Goals had been clear, a document that clearly demonstrated collective support for the initiatives presented to analyze catalytic financing for the Global Goals.
The Vice President said that there is a new dynamic and new mobilization to achieve this desire through associations, companies, world leaders and more than 500 partners who have registered in New York, the halfway point towards the end of the term.
Mohammed pointed to other great moments at the SDG Weekend with representatives of women’s groups, civil society, science and business, as well as the Climate Ambition Summit and the three global health events.
(Taken from Prensa Latina)
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