UN General Assembly opens 69th session

Participants observe a moment of meditation during the first plenary meeting of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly, at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 16, 2014. The UN General Assembly started its 69th session at the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Niu Xiaolei)

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) started its 69th session at the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday.

Sam Kahamba Kutesa, Uganda's foreign minister who was elected president of the 69th UNGA session on June 11, said in his opening remarks that the coming year will be a momentous time for the United Nations.

"We will commemorate the seventieth anniversary of its founding, the twentieth anniversary of the ground-breaking Beijing Conference, fifteen years since the adoption of the Millennium Declaration and ten years since the World Summit of 2005," he said.

While with a lot of hard work ahead, Kutesa said, there is a historic opportunity to formulate the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which builds on the foundation and successes of the landmark Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and contributes to achieving sustainable development in social, economic and environmental dimensions.

"It will also be our responsibility to ensure that adequate means for implementing the agenda, in terms of finances, technology development and transfer and capacity-building are mobilized," he said, calling for a strengthened global partnership for development, as well as enhanced cooperation between and amongst member states, the private sector, civil society, and all stakeholders.

"It is for this reason, that I chose the theme of the General Debate of the 69th Session to be 'Delivering on and implementing a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda,'" Kutesa said.

Three high-level thematic debates and one high-level event will be convened during this session, according to the UNGA president.

"The main objective of the debates and event is to provide an opportunity for member states and all relevant stakeholders to have in-depth deliberations on the selected topics, in an interactive and participatory manner, with a view to making contributions to the process of formulating the post-2015 development agenda," he said.

The UN is in the last 500 days of action toward its anti- poverty targets that are required to be accomplished by the year of 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were agreed by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000.

The MDGs set specific goals on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/AIDS reduction, and a global partnership for development.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on countries to "join forces to establish a set of sustainable development goals and a development agenda that can wipe out extreme poverty over the next 15 years."

Following the opening week, a high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly, known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, will be held on Sept. 22-23.

The General Assembly will also follow up with a high-level meeting on the needs of the people and countries affected by Ebola.

Furthermore, the UN chief has invited world leaders, from government, finance, business, and civil society to Climate Summit 2014 on Sept. 23. According to the UN, the summit will provide a unique opportunity for leaders to champion an ambitious vision, anchored in action that will enable a meaningful global agreement in 2015.

The annual general debate, during which the General Assembly hears statements by heads of state and government, as well as ministers, will run from Sept. 24 till Oct. 1.

Established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations. Comprising all 193 members of the United Nations, the General Assembly meets in regular session intensively from September to December each year and thereafter as required.