Will the 79th General Assembly become a platform for problem solving?

The words of Secretary General Guterres clearly show the current state of the world and how important this year's General Assembly is. There are two major wars going on in the world and other internal conflicts are going on. The Sustainable Development Goals - 2030 seem impossible to achieve, and the problem is compounded by growing poverty and hunger.

Due to climate change, not only the least developed countries of the world, but also the developed countries are facing problems. Which has become a matter of crisis for the human race itself. It has also created problems for the development of information and technology. Using cyber security and artificial intelligence correctly has become a challenge.

In the midst of this background, Secretary General Guterres mentioned that the world is facing a problematic situation when the General Assembly is being held this time in the opening session of the 79th General Assembly. In view of the current situation in the world, the slogan of the General Assembly this time is 'Leaving no one behind: working together for peace, sustainable development and advancement of human dignity for the present and future generations'. Keeping this as the main focus, the member countries of the UN, including Nepal, will present their opinions in the high-level discussion of the General Assembly.

The 18-day Mahasabha will continue till October 12. This time, Philemon Yang, the former Prime Minister of Cameroon, is the President of the General Assembly. Yang, an experienced African politician, is conducting the General Assembly.

Although the Mahasabha was inaugurated on August 25, the high-level discussions will continue for five days from October 8. Secretary-General Guterres will once again address the high-level discussion. The General Assembly consists of 193 countries and two observer countries, the Holy See (Vatican City) and Palestine. But in the 79th General Assembly, for the first time in history, Palestine will also be able to sit in the seat paling as a member of the other 193 countries and will also be able to make amendments at various levels. The United Nations Emergency Special Session on May 10, 2024 gave Palestine that right. But Palestine did not get the status of a member.

The two major wars that Secretary-General Guterres is trying to point out as problematic are the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine conflicts. Two years have passed since the Russia-Ukraine war. The war that started on February 24, 2022 with Russia's invasion of Ukraine is still ongoing. It is not yet decided when the war will end. According to the data of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights up to July 31, 11,520 people have died and 23,640 have been injured in the war. In this war, the number of Nepalis who joined the Russian army and died in the battle has reached 43, while 7 Nepalis are captured by the Ukrainian army.

On October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel, 1,478 Israelis have been killed so far, while more than 42,000 people have lost their lives in Gaza and other areas of Palestine. Among them, 10 young people from Nepal also lost their lives in the attack of Hamas, while one young man, Bipin Joshi, is still in the custody of Hamas.

United Nations launched the Sustainable Development Goals-2030 (SDG) in different 17 sectors. Since 2016, the goals that have been promoted have been cut in half, and many of them have not even met half of the goals, according to UN study reports. It is mentioned that the target could not be achieved due to the covid-19 epidemic and various other problems. It is clear that the SDGs are not on the right track.

The world is under the threat of climate change. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was reached. The agreement was signed by 196 countries and came into effect on November 4, 2016. This agreement is a binding treaty under international law. The goal of the agreement is to keep temperatures to pre-industrial levels and limit them to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But the climate crisis is starting to emerge when the member states do not act practically to reduce the temperature.

Secretary-General Guterres noted that the General Assembly will be important to bring the Sustainable Development Goals back on track and end poverty and inequality. There is a need to find ways to create economic progress and jobs for everyone, especially women and youth. "We must eliminate the political divide and end the conflict that has caused so much death and suffering," he said. He also mentioned that the climate disaster that is destroying the only home of the human race must be stopped. He said that the developing countries should invest in the future of their people by raising the necessary financial resources.

Guterres made it clear that by solving the problem step by step, we can rebuild trust and confidence in each other and focus on what can be achieved through cooperation and unity. He asked to re-commit the human commitment to the future.

A 22-member Nepalese delegation led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is arriving in New York on October 5 to participate in the General Assembly. On this occasion, Nepal has a program to express its opinion regarding the domestic, regional and international environment.

Former Foreign Secretary Madhurman Acharya, who led the Nepali Permanent Mission to New York, believes that there are many international issues in the world now and Nepal should pay attention to them during the General Assembly. He says that now the UN has stopped making decisions on important issues of multilateralism. "Recently, I see that only going to the UN, meeting and coming back are being done," he said, "now the multilateral work has stopped." The role of the UN has started to weaken. He believes that work has not been done in areas such as finding a solution to

war, bringing a policy of using artificial intelligence correctly, solving the problem of climate change, advancing the agenda of sustainable development goals according to the goals. For that, Nepal should clearly state the matter in the UN. It is necessary to emphasize to advance multilateralism to solve the problem," he said. Acharya made it clear that multilateralism is very important for a country like Nepal and that it should play an active role for its future. Nepal should also say what the future of multilateralism should be. Nepal cannot do anything alone. A place for multilateral diplomacy like the UN remains important for Nepal,' said Acharya.

The biggest problem with the UN's recent deactivation is the 5 countries using the veto power of the Security Council. The United States, Britain, China, Russia and France are permanent members of the Security Council. In any agenda of the world, if one of these countries does not agree, that proposal cannot proceed. Now the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine wars have also become hostages of this Security Council. On the other hand, the role of the Secretary General has become limited to that of an administrator. Big and powerful countries have started to do the multilateral diplomacy that should be done in the UN by sitting with their regional and close friends. They seem to be bypassing the UN.

For example, member countries have started to be more active in multilateral forums such as BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation, Quad, Akush, G-20, G-7, etc. than in the UN. Also, the African continent has been raising the voice that it has not yet received a permanent member of the Security Council. For more than two decades, there has been talk of restructuring the Security Council. Geopolitical expert Chandradev Bhatt believes that there should be a change in the permanent members of the Security Council, which was prepared after the Second World War. He said that since the African continent, India and Latin American countries are also demanding permanent members of the council, it should be restructured sooner or later.

Former Secretary Acharya believes that the authority of the Secretary General in the UN is weak and the 5 members of the Security Council are more powerful. He said that now there should be a future council in the UN and it should be used for studying, researching and solving problems that may occur in the future.