Tag: General Assembly

When I last posted about the selection of the next UN Secretary General, there were nine candidates for the post, now there is twelve. Thanks to an NGO initiative, there were already several public hearings and debates of the candidates. All these seemed – and it still does! – really hopeful compared to the regular procedure of the election when the result is decided solely through diplomatic channels and behind closed doors. Read more about the appointment process here. Since a candidate can be appointed up to one month prior to the end of the current term (which is December…

Happy Sunday! Hoping everybody’s summer is going well, here’s your Sunday reading. Brexit: Is everything going to change in law, so that very little would change in fact? The British are trying to collect themselves after the appalling results of the referendum, but there is still not much we know for sure. This is one good collection of guesses. The UN is electing new members of the Security Council today. This is a big deal This indeed happened this week at the UN General Assembly with some unusual results. One Year after Sousse, It’s the Economy – Not Security –…

Again, better late, than never, right? This time, I am moving forward with the spearkers of the second half of the general debate. I was pleasantly surprised by the speech of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic of Croatia, it almost consoled me for the absence of the British Prime Minister, she is such a good speaker. I wanted to follow her speech of course for the Croatia’s involvement in the European refugee situation. In solving this crisis, she emphasized that we will have to find balance between national, regional and global interests.  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas elaborated on the Palestinian issue in…

A promise, now overdue, but better late than never. I will post my review of the general debate in two parts and of miscellaneous events of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly so far in a third. This year I followed more speeches than in previous years, as the refugee crisis in Europe puts many countries in the spotlight that otherwise would not be of interest in terms of world affairs. The theme of the general debate of the 70th session was „The United Nations at 70 – a new commitment to action”, but besides the theme, the…

Happy weekend, everybody! It was a busy week in world affairs, the general debate of the 70th session of the UNGA ended yesterday, and I know I still owe you a review of UN week, it is in the making. Until it’s done, let’s do some Sunday reading. At the UN, Obama Takes the Long View on ISIS World leaders are still optimistic about winning the war against ISIS and extremism. Nigeria Has Deteriorated into a Major Humanitarian Crisis Another African crisis that doesn’t show no end. Xi On the Global Stage: The Costs of Leadership Indeed, all signs show…

Fanfare for all Peoples – 70th anniversary film for UN – premiered today at the opening of the general debate of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly. (Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Happy weekend, everybody! Fall has undeniably arrived, according to the calendar and to the weather as well. The past days were incredibly gloomy in Hungary. These are very exciting times in world affairs, though, look! I will do my best to keep you updated on the events of UN week in the coming days, so stay tuned! Now, here is your round up for this week. 5 Big Stories that Will Drive the Agenda During UN Week Next week is UN Week! It has already started actually with the Sustainable Development summit this Friday, but the general debate starts tomorrow…

The Sustainable Development Summit is underway in New York City. The summit kicked off yesterday with an historic opening address by Pope Francis, a call to action from Malala Yousafzai and performances by Shakira and Angelique Kidjo among other events.  The new sustainable development goals or global goals as they are widely referred to got adopted by the General Assembly too! Now comes the hard part: acting on the newly adopted goals. For a recap of yesterday’s events, click here. To learn more about the sustainable development goals, click here. The 2015 Global Citizen Festival is now also a part of…

Hello Everybody, it is Sunday again! How are you all doing? As you can tell, I sort of neglected this blog lately. This one is like the 5th or 6th weekend I spent at home trying to “bed rest” this illness. Yes, talking about the same illness that started more than two months ago. I have now heard countless theories on why on earth this one does not go away, medical and less medical reasons alike, have taken more medicines in the past weeks than ever before in my life, but still don’t have the solution. Something happened this weekend…

The World is Watching – are you? The General Debate of the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly just started yesterday.  As President Obama pointed out in his speech, world leaders gathered in New York, because “others realized that we gain more from cooperation than conquest”. As it is a democratic institution though, there are  quite a few speakers at the General Assembly representing member states that still don’t seem to realize that. Anyway, the theme of the general debate this year is “Delivering on and implementing a transformative post-2015 development agenda”, as this one is the last UNGA…