“Better Together” theme will guide the work of the United Nations General Assembly’s 80th session, its President Annalena Baerbock told reporters. “No single nation, regardless of its size, might, or wealth, can confront the challenges that we face all alone,” she said.
Briefing journalists today (17 Sep) Baerbock said the year’s priorities include advancing the UN80 reform agenda, strengthening the organization’s effectiveness, and guiding the selection of the next Secretary-General. She also highlighted the need to build on the Pact for the Future and “regain momentum on the SDGs.”
“Yes, we are at a crossroads – a make-or-break moment,” Baerbock said. “Our forebearers had the humility and grace to put aside their differences and work together in 1945; we need that same principled conviction today.”
She stressed that governments must back up their speeches with tangible commitments. “If we want to make our United Nations stronger, then we would need commitments from all the governments around the world,” Baerbock said, urging parliaments to consider UN funding alongside global priorities such as peace and security, climate action, human rights, and sustainable development.
Baerbock said these issues would guide her bilateral meetings with heads of state during the high-level week.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva today (17 Sep) told the Security Council that as United Nations agencies “were ramping up their support for earthquake victims,” Taliban authorities “have blocked access for female national staff to UN field office premises around the country,” and said “this serious restriction hinders the UN’s ability to help the Afghan people at their moment of great need.”
Otunbayeva welcomed support from International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, but said, “IFI-funded projects must be implemented through UN agencies, and their impact has been reduced by the enforcement of bans against female national staff, and the wider ban on women working, which has created unacceptable discrimination.”
She said, “we have issued a statement calling for the lifting of this ban and its enforcement, and I urge the Security Council to echo our call.”
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