<\/p>\n
Closing six days of speeches on Monday, General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman said sharply differing perspectives had nevertheless produced a common conclusion that the United Nations remained indispensable. \u201cPeace came first,\u201d Rahman said, describing the demand not as a distant ambition but as an urgent defence of the UN Charter, international law and civilian protection.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The debate featured 194 speakers, including 113 Heads of State and Government, one Crown Prince, 11 Vice-Presidents, seven Deputy Prime Ministers and 48 Ministers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rahman warned that progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals remained severely inadequate, with only a fraction of targets on track.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Asked whether countries should have done more, Rahman said: \u201cThe answer must be a resounding yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Inequality also shaped the debate. Countries facing severe debt, climate vulnerability and limited public financing frequently held the least influence over institutions responsible for global economic decisions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rahman said trust had become one of the most difficult deficits to repair. \u201cTrust cannot be commanded,\u201d Rahman said. \u201cIt must be earned through consistency between words and deeds.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Artificial intelligence (AI) recorded a dramatic rise on the diplomatic agenda. Only five delegations discussed AI four years ago, compared with 128 this year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Delegations raised questions about accountability, human control and equitable access, warning against allowing a few countries and companies to dominate technology shaping the global future. \u201cNo machine possesses democratic legitimacy. No algorithm inherits constitutional responsibility,\u201d Rahman said, quoting one intervention.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Leaders also demanded deeper political reform of multilateral institutions and described Africa\u2019s continued absence from permanent UN Security Council membership as an injustice.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rahman said multilateralism should be judged by whether collective action \u201cchanges realities on the ground\u201d, rather than by the number of meetings held or resolutions adopted.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The conclusion of the General Debate does not end the General Assembly session.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
From October 1, detailed negotiations will move to six Main Committees covering disarmament, international security, economic, financial, humanitarian and social affairs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Assembly will also appoint a new UN Secretary-General following a recommendation from the Security Council. The successor to Ant\u00f3nio Guterres will take office on January 1, 2027.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is only the beginning of the session,\u201d Rahman said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":45977,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-46784","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Peace emerged as the defining appeal of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly debate as leaders confronted conflict, inequality, stalled development and accelerating technological change.","published_date":"","news_description":"Peace emerged as the defining appeal of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly debate as leaders confronted conflict, inequality, stalled development and accelerating technological change.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/46784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/46784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46785,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/46784\/revisions\/46785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=46784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}