Chairman's Opening Statement

The Council of Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly

Special Meeting

New York City

21 September 2024

 

Excellency, Mr. Philemon Yang, President of the 79th Session of the General Assembly,

Allow me first to express our congratulations for your election as President of the 79th Session of the General Assembly. I am confident that this session, under your able stewardship, will be crowned with a success.

Mr. President, the UNCPGA’s key role is to offer its advice and support to you and to the Assembly’s program of work. All discussion is confidential, on a non-attribution, Chatham House rule basis. Please consider us your friend and ally during this historic week and throughout the coming year as you pursue the theme ‘Unity and diversity for advancing peace, sustainable development and human dignity, everywhere and for all.’

I want to acknowledge and thank His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis for his distinguished and outstanding term as President of the 78^th Session just concluded.

Mr. President Francis, you have championed effectively the United Nations’ unique and enormous capacities. Under your distinguished leadership the United Nations’ power to convene was most skillfully harnessed, utilized, and consequential as never before. We share your optimism about the future of the Organization. Thank you for seeking our counsel during your term. Welcome to UNCPGA in a new capacity. We look forward to your active participation together in the years ahead.

Mr. President, we are meeting in Turtle Bay upon the annual convening of world leaders, including this year’s Summit of the Future to spur multilateral action on global issues. The Summit, entitled Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow, is taking place at a time when the world faces notable existential global risks and challenges. These require both a unified and resolute international community to foster change for current and future generations.

It presents an opportunity for the UNCPGA to bolster cooperation and forge pathways toward enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the Office of the President of the General Assembly, which is the chief deliberative policymaking and the instrumental body mandated to preside over the sessions and oversee the activities of the General Assembly in order to make its work more substantive, relevant and visible.

Being at the table enables UNCPGA membership real-time, effective engagement toward better informed outcomes. Further, it publicizes UNCPGA as a brain trust within the international community on issues of global concern, past, present, and future.

As we will recall here, over time the Assembly has resolved to encourage exchanges between the President-elect of the General Assembly and the Council of Presidents. Presidents-elect might benefit from the experiences of former Presidents in terms of best practices and lessons learned, as part of strengthening the institutional memory of the Office of the President of the Assembly.

Notably, UNCPGA has had the privilege of consulting with President Yang since his election in June. Mr. President, thank you for your confidence in us as a resource for continuity.

In that vein, continuity is needed for a major shared priority, that being the ongoing revitalization of the General Assembly as the pre-eminent organ of the United Nations Organization. In short, this means enhancing the Assembly’s role, authority, effectiveness, and efficiency.

This year, the Assembly’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Revitalization will discuss further ways to strengthen the accountability, transparency, and institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly. UNCPGA will not let that good work slip away and will press for implementation. It will also deliberate on the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General and other executive heads. This will articulate the Assembly’s prerogatives on the eve of the next selection process in 2025 and will involve the ever- evolving institutional dynamic between the Assembly and the Security Council.

Mr. President, while Member States drive the multilateral system, the role of non-state actors has been increasingly recognized and valued, including in the outcomes of the Summit of the Future, namely a Pact for the Future, a Global Digital Compact, and a Declaration on Future Generations. The UNCPGA brings the perspective and experience of former Presidents of the General Assembly in the multilateral deliberations, including on emerging issues such as climate change, conflicts, and AI. They should have opportunities to inform global decisions. For this reason, the Council is seeking to secure a Permanent Observer status in the UN General Assembly. With the support of the Group of Friends of the PGA and in close collaboration with the PGA, we are preparing to table a resolution in this regard during the current 79th session of the General Assembly.

Regarding science and technology, the global community must work together to maximize the benefits and mitigate the negative impacts of the current digital revolution/emerging technologies. The UNCPGA, as a critical partner, intends to play a pivotal role in shaping sound global governance systems for AI and other digital technologies. The Global Digital Compact, to be adopted by the Summit, is a unique opportunity to promote science and technology as key drivers of social development and innovation.

The Summit will also adopt a Declaration on Future Generations.  Indeed, the future is UNCPGA's core constituency.  Future generations' welfare rightly motivates Assembly Presidents past, current, and future.

The Summit's outputs will indicate to UNCPGA how to improve continuously its program of work. Its overarching task is asks the following of the Assembly's table: is it set properly to ensure UN relevance, engagement, and robust institutional memory for subsequent generations?

UNCPGA pledges to consult and advise any interested parties, principally the Office of the President of the General Assembly, in follow-up dialogues among Member States and the Secretariat. A purposeful, effective Assembly depends upon continuity of knowledge and expertise.

The 79^th Session commences, a growing array of urgencies are on its doorstep. And inter-governmental negotiations are ever more cross-layered. Mechanisms and procedures, both old and new, can facilitate or confound needed international cooperation.  Clearly, the General Assembly’s role, authority, and working methods will be stress-tested this Session.

President Yang, I offer the floor to you.  We look forward to what you see as the fit between your priorities and the capacities of inter-governmental processes. Our discussion today will be a blueprint for UNCPGA approaches for supporting you in the year ahead.

Mr. President, the floor is yours.