Political, economic and climate issues at the center of the annual UN meeting

2023-09-15 16:47:43, Kosova & Bota CNA

The war in Ukraine is expected to be the main topic for the second year in a row when leaders gather at the UN General Assembly. But as VOA correspondent Margaret Besheer reports, many developing countries are hoping for attention to be paid to issues important to them, including development, inflation and climate change.

This year's General Assembly is being held after a marathon year of high-level meetings, and some important leaders will not be attending. But there are still many issues to discuss.

"We will be gathering at a time when humanity faces great challenges – from the urgent issue of the worsening climate crisis, to escalating conflicts, the global cost of living crisis, growing inequalities and dramatic changes due to technology. People expect their leaders to find a way out of this mess," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend the Assembly in person for the first time since the Russian aggression began in February 2022.

"Zelensky should be aware that there are many leaders of developing countries who have their own problems, such as debt and economic growth, and want to talk about these issues, and not just about the war between Russia and Ukraine," says Richard Gowan, from the UN Group on International Crisis.

This includes sustainable development, which is not on track to achieve the 2030 targets on hunger and extreme poverty. The UN says that if this trend continues, 575 million people will fall into extreme poverty by the end of this decade.

The week will begin with a two-day high-level meeting that the UN hopes will renew work on these goals.

"Progress has been set back a lot in recent years. This is partly due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the highest level of conflict globally since 1945, climate-related disasters, as well as inflation and the rising cost of living," said Astra Bonini, UN official for sustainable development.

On Wednesday, a high-level climate meeting will be held to make ambitious commitments to reduce the level of polluting gases and reduce the use of fossil energy sources.

The UN Security Council will meet to discuss the war in Ukraine and President Zelensky is expected to attend.

The UN Secretary General says there is room to discuss the war in Ukraine and other issues. He says that it is urgent to work on the Sustainable Development Goals.

"I think there is room to seriously discuss all issues, and I am not afraid that the crises in different parts of the world can remove from the agenda the importance of the objectives for sustainable development," said Mr. Guterres.

President Joe Biden will address the general assembly on Tuesday to lay out the priorities of the United States.

"He will address the General Assembly, where he will reaffirm our country's leadership role in the face of international challenges for security, the protection of human rights and the advancement of global prosperity and development," said US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield .

While problems abound, people around the world will be looking to their leaders, whom they expect to improve their daily lives and protect their future./ VOA