UN secretary general calls for a ‘world built on interdependence’ in final speech to general assembly

UNITED NATIONS secretary-general Antonio Guterres pleaded for “a world built on interdependence” yesterday as he made his final address to the general assembly gathering of world leaders. The UN chief has long called on leaders not to give up on co-operation and shared decision-making in the face of accelerating global challenges and increasing competition between the major powers. His message took on additional urgency because he leaves office at the end of this year. He said: “The fault lines in our world are widening,” citing raging wars, rising temperatures and artificial intelligence, among other matters. Instead of letting the future continue to veer toward fragmentation, transactionalism and mistrust, he called for “a world built on interdependence — and sustained by a dense web of economic, political, social and technological connections.” His speech opened the main portion of the world’s biggest diplomatic meeting of the year. Leaders from the UN’s 193 member countries address each other and the international community and air their hopes, plans and grievances. The annual gathering of the UN’s 193 members will be consumed with wars in Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Congo and Myanmar, the worsening climate emergency threatening the future of the planet and the growing inequalities within and among nations. The future of the UN will also be on the agenda. Member nations have agreed to a wide-ranging reform package that includes updating key institutions such as the UN security council, where the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France hold the power of veto. Behind the scenes, speculation is rife over who will take over from Mr Guterres, whose second five-year term ends on December 31. No clear successor has emerged. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was set to deliver Brazil’s customary first speech from member nations followed by US President Donald Trump as the host country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address the assembly on Thursday. For a second year, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas won’t be coming to the UN because the US has refused to give him a visa. He will nonetheless address the assembly by video the same day. The US, under its agreement with the UN to host the organisation, is obliged to allow diplomats from all member nations to attend meetings. China’s President Xi Jinping, who is meeting Mr Trump in Washington on Wednesday, will not be in attendance at the UN. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also not be present. The 25th anniversary meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation in the Kyrgyz capital may offer a glimmer of hope that international relations do not need to be defined by endless confrontation, writes KENNY COYLE Sovereignty and the rule of law are under threat from Trump’s attacks on Lula’s administration just as they have been across Latin America, argue CARLOS MARTINEZ and SARA VIVACQUA The UN is not only in need of structural change, a fundamental mindset revolution is also required – and it’s China that points the way with its Global Governance Initiative, argues ROGER McKENZIE