The 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on the 9th at the UN Headquarters in New York. In his opening speech, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on the international community to strengthen solidarity and jointly seek solutions to help humanity move toward a better, fairer, more peaceful, and more equal world.
Guterres said that 80 years ago, representatives of the founding countries of the United Nations gathered in San Francisco, USA, envisioning a "different future"—an institution capable of addressing global problems, one that could not only prevent disasters such as war but also find solutions to other issues that trouble humanity, such as poverty, hunger, disease, and inequality.
He stated that the United Nations provides a venue, while the UN Charter provides tools. The "Pact for the Future" adopted last September injected new vitality into the multilateral system and the values of the United Nations. The UN Charter "does not automatically take effect;" it is designed to require nations to rise above national interests, rebuild mutual trust and confidence, and reflect on how cooperation and solidarity can be used to achieve their goals.
The newly sworn-in President of the 80th UN General Assembly, former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, stated in her speech that the task of the General Assembly is to keep the UN vibrant, strengthen the organization, and enable it to adapt to the 21st century. Implementing the "Pact for the Future" and advancing the "United Nations 80th Anniversary Reform Initiative" will help reshape and revitalize the UN, so that it can achieve its core goals of peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights.
The United Nations General Assembly is the main deliberative, supervisory, and review body of the UN and is composed of all member states. The Assembly holds regular sessions from September to December each year. These sessions are typically divided into two stages: the first is the general debate stage, and the second is the stage for deliberating the various items on the agenda.