TRANSCRIPT:
The Inside Story: The U.N. General Assembly
Episode 59 – September 29, 2022
Show Open:
Unidentified Narrator:
The United Nations General Assembly.
World leaders converge in New York against the bsckdrops of war and civil unrest.
Ukraine’s president addresses his counterparts.
Plus, the security machine churning behind the scenes.
Now, on The Inside Story: The United Nations General Assembly.
The Inside Story:
CAROLYN PRESUTTI, VOA Senior Washington Correspondent:
Hi. I’m Carolyn Presutti, VOA Senior Washington Correspondent, in New York City today to take you inside the annual gathering of world leaders and diplomats here at the United Nations General Assembly.
The roll call of member nations --- with speeches from heads of state or a representative --- is just part of the two-week General Assembly.
The leaders held meetings on the sidelines while events connected to the U.N.’s work attracted thousands more to America’s biggest city.
As you can imagine, security is tight. Law enforcement agencies here and across the region worked hard to make sure everyone --- including eight million New Yorkers --- are safe.
A little later, I’ll take you on an inside look at the challenges police face.
First --- the speakers --- and what they had to say.
Delayed a day because of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the second, U.S. President Joe Biden touched on many issues, including Russia’s war on Ukraine and climate change.
Details now from VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell:
ANITA POWELL, VOA White House Correspondent:
The United Nations General Assembly is the world’s biggest diplomatic show —
and its biggest donor is usually the star attraction.
This week, U.S. President Joe Biden showed he understood his place on the world stage, a year after he proclaimed, “The United States is back.”
This year, he zeroed in on Russian President Vladimir Putin, who did not attend, by slamming Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s continued saber-rattling.
U.S. President Joe Biden:
A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council invaded its neighbor, attempted to erase a sovereign state from the map.
Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations Charter -- no more important than the clear prohibition against countries taking the territory of their neighbor by force.
Again, President Putin has made overt nuclear threats against Europe and a reckless disregard for the responsibilities of the non-proliferation regime.
Now Russia is calling -- calling up more soldiers to join the fight. And the Kremlin is organizing a sham referenda to try to annex parts of Ukraine, an extremely significant violation of the U.N. Charter
This world should see these outrageous acts for what they are. Putin claims he had to act because Russia was threatened. But no one threatened Russia, and no one other than Russia sought conflict.
ANITA POWELL
He also pledged billions toward global health and food security.
And he met with key leaders on the sidelines, showing the full scope of the U.S.’s focus.
On Thursday, Biden met with the Philippines' new president — where he spoke of the United States’ main competitor, China.
U.S. President Joe Biden:
And I expect we'll discuss the South China Sea and disputes over the critical global thruway. I've spent a lot of time with not only the president of China but others about the international waters and how they have to be respected.
ANITA POWELL
But the U.N. has its limits. It can’t tax, it has no army, and the U.S. is not a member of its main judicial arm, the International Criminal Court.
And the Security Council, which Biden said he supports reforming, is essentially controlled by three powerful members with veto power: China, Russia and the U.S.
And so, analysts say, words may be aired here, but the action may take place off stage.
Stacie Goddard, Wellesley College:
I don't think this is going to be done at the U.N. I think ... that President Biden wants to send strong signals to potential partner nations. But ultimately, I think this is something that happens in the United States bilateral relations, as well as in its favorite multilateral forums.
ANITA POWELL
As the U.N. annual meeting comes to a close, will those words turn into action?
Anita Powell, VOA News, New York.
CAROLYN PRESUTTI:
As host country, the U.S. president is the General Assembly’s second speaker.
Brazil gets the honor to speak first.
Why’s that?
Because in 1946, and again in 1947 at the first two U-N-G-A meetings --- Brazil volunteered to lead-off the proceedings when no other country stepped up to speak.
So, that began the custom of Brazil setting the agenda.
Unidentified Narrator:
Every year, on the third Tuesday in September, the world’s leaders descend on U.N. headquarters in New York City for the General Assembly’s annual debate.
But what is the U.N. General Assembly — better known as the UNGA? And why all the buzz in September?
Margaret Besheer, VOA U.N. Correspondent:
So, the high-level week brings together leaders from around the world for this annual debate … sometimes breakthroughs can happen through that kind of contact.
Unidentified Narrator:
The UNGA can be viewed as the world’s parliament, with each of the 193 members of the U.N. represented by one vote. The assembly’s president rotates each year and is elected by UNGA members.
It discusses and debates issues, makes recommendations to the more powerful U.N. Security Council and elects the rotating, nonpermanent members to the Security Council.
It also has the power to censure states that violate the principles of the U.N. Charter — such as the case in 1974, when the UNGA suspended South Africa for its practice of apartheid
…or in 2012 when the UNGA denounced Syria for the human rights abuses committed since the start of the civil war.
And remember the Millennium Development Goals, later replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals?
Those were put forward by the UNGA.
Part of the reason the UNGA gets so much attention every September is because it draws presidents, prime ministers and other world leaders, all of whom have the opportunity to give a speech.
Usually, leaders speak for 15 minutes. But there have been some notable exceptions, including Fidel Castro’s record 269 minutes in 1960.
While world leaders dominate the big stage, there are also plenty of important issues being hashed out on the sidelines …
Margaret Besheer, VOA U.N. Correspondent:
So the side events are important, but there’s so many of them … and that’s important.
Unidentified Narrator:
Often, the UNGA creates an opportunity for activists, celebrities and politicians to bring attention to important issues …
Such as when the South Korean boy band BTS kicked off the 2021 UNGA high-level gathering with a performance and speech about climate change, digital communities, vaccines and the power of younger generations
And when Greta Thunberg gave a powerful speech urging action against climate change in 2019.
Greta Thunberg, Climate Activist:
You are failing us but the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you and if you choose to fail us, I say, we will never forgive you.
Margaret Besheer, VOA U.N. Correspondent:
For the journalists, it’s the biggest week of their U.N. calendar year … processing all those words those leaders say.
CAROLYN PRESUTTI:
COVID forced the 2020 UN General Assembly to be conducted virtually and the 2021 meeting was a hybrid of live and virtual.
This year, the speakers were all expected to deliver speeches in person.
But there was one exception.
The Assembly voted to allow Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskky to deliver a recorded speech.
Here’s some of what he --- and other leaders had to say:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy:
A crime has been committed against Ukraine, and we demand just punishment. Punishment for the murders of thousands of people. Punishment for tortures and humiliations of women and men. Punishment for the catastrophic turbulence that Russia provoked with its illegal war.
Ukraine wants peace. Europe wants peace. The world wants peace. And we have seen who is the only one who wants war.
For us, this is a war for life. That is why we need defense support – weapons, military equipment and shells. Offensive weapons, a long-range one is enough to liberate our land, and defensive systems, above all, air defense.
As for the talks between Ukraine and Russia. They talk about the talks but announce military mobilization. They talk about the talks but announce pseudo referendums in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
We are ready for peace. But true, honest and fair peace.
Sudanese President Al-Burhan:
Food and energy prices are skyrocketing. This crisis requires further international cooperation in order to resolve it. Sudan should be able to guarantee its own food security on a regional and international level. We call on the United Nations, and specialized agencies, as well as regional organizations and brotherly countries to support efforts of Sudan to meet this objective, through transfer of agricultural technology, capacity building, and through support for the creation of a Center for Agricultural Research.
Yemeni President Al-Alimi:
Each time that a year passes without a robust position being taken on Yemen, losses pile up. Militias and terrorist groups become increasingly dangerous and are a real transnational threat.
We want a lasting peace. This truce showed that, indeed, we do lack a serious partner within Yemen. We lack serious partners who want peace. The Yemenis know today that they absolutely need to combat sectarian armed groups. Today, we insist, on the strong position of the Yemeni Presidential Council, we are calling for a renewal of the truce.
Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi:
The Islamic Republic of Iran with good will signed an agreement, accepted an agreement, in 2015, and in a first phase it lived up to all of her commitments without any exceptions. But the result of that was the trampling upon by America on that agreement and as they themselves said in so many words, they were unprecedented measures, oppressive sanctions measures in history. Sanctions.
Sanctions are an imposed punishment on the people of Iran for being freedom seekers. A weapon of mass destruction - that’s what sanctions are.. we have a year and a half of negotiations with the current American government to return, for her to return to the fulfillment of her commitments.
Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro:
The conflict in Ukraine serves as a warning. The effects of the conflict can already be felt in world prices of foodstuffs, fuel and other raw materials. All of this impact drives us all away from the Sustainable Development Goals. Countries that once presented themselves as leaders of the low carbon economy have now turned to dirty sources of energy.
This is a serious setback for the environment. We support all efforts to reduce the economic impacts of this crisis. But we do not believe that the best way is to adopt one-sided, or unilateral and selective sanctions, that are inconsistent with International Law. These measures have harmed economic recovery and threatened the human rights of vulnerable populations, including in European countries.
The solution to the conflict in Ukraine will only be achieved through negotiation and dialogue.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas:
It is clear ladies and gentlemen, that Israel, which is ignoring the resolutions of the international legitimacy, has decided not to be our partner in the peace process. It has undermined the Oslo Accords which it had signed with the PLO. It has and still is, through its current policies, which are premeditated and deliberate, destroying the two state solution.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid:
Despite all the obstacles still today, a large majority of Israelis support the vision of the two-state solution. I am one of them. We have only one condition: that the future Palestinian state will be a peaceful one. That it will not become another terror base from which to threaten the wellbeing and the very existence of Israel. That we will have the ability to protect the security of all the citizens of Israel at all times.
CAROLYN PRESUTTI:
Walking on the streets of New York City is always an adventure --- you never know what or whom you will see.
But these two weeks, picture the craziest traffic jams you can imagine and then add in the motorcades for dignitaries from nearly 200 countries.
Then, put yourself in the place of police, to manage safety and smooth travel through the city. How’s that work?
That’s what my cameraman Adam Greenbaum and I want to show you --- let’s go to the street around where we are.
Imagine being in the middle of this.
Bumper-to-bumper gridlock.
Police cruisers, nose-to-nose.
No one gets anywhere fast during the United Nations General Assembly.
Unless you are in one of the 200 motorcades driving dignitaries to and from the U.N.
Sgt Patrick McGuire, NYPD UNGA Security:
There’s secret service, NYPD, and intel that verify the motorcade…
CAROLYN PRESUTTI:
Only then do they get in. A ride to the United Nations starts in this operations center. The State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security takes over the entire floor of a midtown hotel.
This area gets set up in only 72 hours but takes eight months of planning. One thousand people maneuver more than a hundred armored cars and limos manned with a SWAT team, and other vehicles for dignitaries.
J.R. Kulik, State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security:
What our agents are doing in the field with these protectees is keeping that secure bubble around the protectee and it’s really interesting because that bubble is a moving one. We have to make sure that we maintain those rings of securityno matter where they go anytime of the day, any place.
CAROLYN PRESUTTI:
The U.S. Secret Service handles higher government leaders like presidents and prime ministers. The longer the motorcade, the higher level of threat for the leader. Imagine guaranteeing the safety of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The newly renovated, 40-floor Turkish mission is directly across the street from the U.N., which some officers call a security nightmare.
Now imagine living here within the bubble. Those who do, carry their identification cards and plan ahead.
Kishore Mirchandani, Resident:
For example, I need to go play golf tomorrow. So, I’ve left my golf clubs with a friend on 65th Street.
CAROLYN PRESUTTI:
Toshie Deuskar picks up her child from preschool, which is inside the bubble.
Toshie Deuskar, Resident:
If I’m walking, it’s not a problem. The only issue is if I need to drive.
CAROLYN PRESUTTI:
With all the planning and 12-hour shifts, you would imagine the New York City police would get a rest after this week.
Sgt. Patrick McGuire, NYPD UNGA Security:
We start planning our next event right away. In Manhattan, there’s always something going on.
CAROLYN PRESUTTI:
There is lots of ground to cover for all 193 speakers during the two weeks of the U-N General Assembly – which we in the media shorten to UNGA.
How best should audiences around the world decipher what is said ---- and why?
Fordham University’s international politics professor Anjali Dayal is here to answer those questions. Dayal is also a senior scholar in residence at the US Institute of Peace.
Professor Dayal thank you so much for joining us at VOA.
Anjali Dayal, International Politics Professor, Fordham University:
Thank you for having me.
CAROLYN PRESUTTI:
You know, I've heard someone explain that UNGA is when the world's attention turns to New York City. Why is that?
Anjali Dayal, International Politics Professor, Fordham University:
The UN General Assembly is basically the biggest forum in the world for leaders to talk to each other, and to express their sort of political plans, their hopes, their aspirations for politics at the highest possible level. And it becomes sort of a central point for organizing the political debates over the next year.
The UN General Assembly is not an action body. It's a body of debate and deliberation. It's a place where countries can put their sort of agendas out into the world and demonstrate what they're in favor of and what they're against. The UN Security Council issues binding resolutions which we mean that when you sign up for the UN you agree to abide by the terms of the UN Security Council resolutions.
In the UN General Assembly there are some actions states can take together one of the biggest things the UN General Assembly does is it sets the ones budget, which is not a small power it's if you've ever worked in an organization, you know the budgetary power is is a significant amount of sway over organization. So it does have that power and it's sort of back pocket.
But other than that it's mostly a deliberative body. It makes recommendations. It helps elect some of the members of other UN bodies so the non permanent members of the Security Council come from the General Assembly election. Members for example of UN Human Rights Council come from the generally General Assembly election. Those kinds of things are things the General Assembly does do but it's primarily a deliberative body.
So one thing that's really important, I think, is when we look at the at the sort of broadening out of General Assembly membership. One of the key things the UN General Assembly has done is help expand the body of world states. So, I said, you know, there are 15, excuse me 51 original members of the UN General Assembly, and today they're 193 through processes of like decolonization, independence. Joining me one general assembly is a way to join the Society of world states.
CAROLYN PRESUTTI:
So it gives them legitimacy?
Anjali Dayal, International Politics Professor, Fordham University:
Exactly right. If you want to be a body in the UN system and international law, you joined the UN General Assembly You can enter into negotiations with other countries can build agreements, you can do things as simple as get statistics on your population collected which matter a lot to other states. So in that sense, that's a huge accomplishment of the body. It's to organize this body of world states in a way that's sort of legible and understandable to other states and makes you a member of the world community in a way that few other organizations do grants that legitimacy.
CAROLYN PRESUTTI:
So, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says this year's meeting took place in a time of great peril. And the debate certainly proved that this year, didn’t they?
Anjali Dayal, International Politics Professor, Fordham University:
The Secretary General has been trying to sound the alarm on as many fronts as possible about global crises that we can only solve with global action. So things like climate disaster, things like epidemics, things like pandemics only global coordination is going to allow us to successfully make our way through and something that Antonio Guterres has been saying repeatedly, something that we've seen unfold in debates is that this is an indispensable forum for that kind of problem solving.
CAROLYN PRESUTTI:
Imagine that – another traffic jam.
Back outside now, that’s all for this week.
Stay up-to-date with the UN General Assembly and the latest news on VOANews.com
Follow VOA News on Instagram and Facebook.
And follow me on Twitter at CarolynVOA…
For all of those behind the scenes who brought you today’s show, I’m Carolyn Presutti from New York City.
See you next week for The Inside Story.
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