What Happened at UNGA?
Author: Alice Palmer, Communications & Events Intern
This week, the most high-profile speeches and summits of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly took place in New York. The UNGA is a critical gathering of each of the 193 Member States, during which a broad range of international issues are discussed and pledges made to chart a positive course for the future. With rising global temperatures, an escalating global food crisis, and the ongoing war in Ukraine jeopardising energy supplies, there was lots to discuss at the UN headquarters. Here is a summary of some of the key moments and announcements.
Global Food Security Summit
The Global Food Security Summit took place on Monday, co-chaired by the European Union, the United States, the African Union, and Spain. Countries reaffirmed their commitment to achieve the goals of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, along seven targeted lines of action. These include an increase in funding to life-saving humanitarian programmes, acceleration of fertiliser production, and further investments in research and technology for agricultural innovation.
Spain’s PM Pedro Sanchez stated that multilateral support is key to solving the food crisis. The EU has announced plans to spend €600 million, which will be used primarily in Africa.
During his address to the Assembly on Wednesday, Biden announced a $2.9 billion package to tackle global food insecurity.
The Child Malnutrition Crisis: Pledging to Save Lives
UNICEF, USAid, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), and the government of Senegal co-hosted an event titled ‘The Child Malnutrition Crisis: Pledging to Save Lives’ at the sidelines of the UNGA. They announced plans to expand access to Ready–to–Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). The fundraising target for the event was $250 million, which was exceeded by over $30 million. Significant donations from Canada, Ireland, and The Netherlands, as well philanthropic organisations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eleanor Crook Foundation, brings the total raised since July to $530 million.
An expansion of the Child Nutrition Fund was also announced, with CIFF committing an additional $40 million to combat child wasting.
The UK’s pledge
The UK’s Development Minister Vicky Ford announced £22.8 million in funding to address the deteriorating situation in the Horn of Africa, which is struggling with a severe drought and famine. The assistance will support over 500,000 people.
War in Ukraine
The war in Ukraine unsurprisingly dominated UNGA. Biden declared that the UN Charter is under attack, given Russia’s place on the UN Security Council. German chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned Russia’s ‘imperialism’, also stating that Germany should become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Macron declared that countries which do not take a side are ‘complicit’ with Moscow. No. 10 has declared that Putin’s decision to mobilise military reserves is a ‘clear admission’ that his invasion is failing.
Liz Truss’s Address
The Prime Minister’s address set forth her formidable intentions for Britain on the world stage. Her speech laid out the following aims:
Get the UK economy growing at an average of 2.5%.
The UK as a net energy exporter by 2040.
The G7, and other like-minded partners, to act as an ‘economic NATO’.
She also committed:
Spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, maintaining the UK's position as ‘leading security actor’ in Europe.
Sustaining or increasing military support to Ukraine, for as long as it takes.
UK-US Relations
Having declared on the flight over to New York that a UK-US trade deal was unlikely to happen for years to come, all eyes were focused on the meeting between Truss and Biden on Wednesday.
There wasn’t much official information released from the first bilateral for the new PM, but a senior U.S. administration official did tell reporters that it was a ‘candid discussion in which the prime minister laid out her view and the president made very clear what he said publicly, which is that protecting the Good Friday Agreement and the gains of the Good Friday Agreement is a matter of bipartisan importance in the United States and a matter of personal importance to him as president. And he was very clear about that.’
Biden did impart that Britain is ‘[the United States’s] closest ally in the world’.
