Every September, world leaders, diplomats, advocates, and other influential voices gather for the United Nations General Assembly — one of the most important moments on the diplomatic calendar.

At a time of complex and interconnected global challenges, the General Assembly is the one place where all nations — large and small — have the opportunity to share their vision and solutions for issues that no country can solve alone.

From the rise of Artificial Intelligence to the devastating impacts of conflict, the General Assembly is the singular moment when all world leaders can come together to make progress on the threats facing humanity today and deliver hope for the future.

Secretary-General Calls for Greater Cooperation

Ahead of this year’s Assembly, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that amid serious global existential threats, now is the time for leaders to come together to seek common ground and share solutions.

“Power is shifting. The world is changing. And our institutions must change with it,” he said, emphasizing, “International cooperation is more necessary than ever”.

Stressing that the UN’s work must stay firmly grounded in the ideals and principles that have inspired its efforts to help people for more than eight decades, he said:

“The United Nations is not just a platform — it is a promise”.

Many Events. One Goal.

Throughout the week, representatives will meet to explore opportunities for greater cooperation on a wide range of issues facing nations and communities.

The Secretary-General will bring together leaders, major energy producers and activists on 23 September for the 2026 Climate Summit to discuss the need to prioritise climate action and a just energy transition. Together, they will set out how to speed up the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources, strengthen energy security, advance climate justice, and protect people from an accelerating climate crisis.

On 24 September, a high-level meeting will be dedicated to discussing Sea Level Rise, giving global leaders, experts and other stakeholders a platform to discuss the urgent threat of rising sea levels. The gathering aims to increase awareness and promote greater political leadership and international cooperation to address the risks of rising seas.

Details on other key moments from this year’s General Assembly are available here.

To learn more, follow the United Nations on social media.

At UN General Assembly, World Leaders to Seek Common Ground was originally published in We The Peoples on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged world leaders, technology companies, and others to work together to ensure the safe use of Artificial Intelligence.

The Secretary-General warned that without greater international cooperation, the technology could widen global inequality instead of advancing sustainable development. The unregulated usage of AI has direct impacts on our environment, children, and weapons systems that are developing at a rapid pace without close human oversight.

The Secretary-General said that nations must come together to increase the safety of Artificial Intelligence, while mitigating its detrimental impacts in four critical areas.

Human Oversight

In order for AI to be used responsibly and ethically, it requires close cooperation from Governments, companies, and scientists.

“We may be the last generation able to set the terms on which humanity and machines coexist.”

The Secretary-General has stressed that we are tasked to help build a future of AI, “by humanity, with humanity and for all humanity.” AI governance cannot be governed by a handful of countries or companies, every nation needs a seat at the table.

He insisted that any future agreement must be “worthy of global trust” and put safety first.

The Environment

AI is hungry for land, water and power, and the data centers behind it already consume more electricity than most nations.

By 2030, they could use more power than all but five countries — and enough water to meet the basic needs of all 1.3 billion residents of sub‑Saharan Africa for an entire year.

Despite these obvious concerns, communities are often uninformed about the environmental impact of the infrastructure rising around them.

In response, the Secretary-General has proposed the AI Environmental Transparency Initiative, calling on every major AI company to measure and publicly disclose the full environmental impact of its systems — carbon, water, and land footprints — and to commit to powering every data centre with renewable energy by 2030.

Child Safety

AI has reached our children — their learning, their friendships, their most private questions — before anyone asked what it would do to them. The Secretary-General has called for an AI Child Safety Pledge with three simple rules for any system a child can reach:

1. Prove it is safe — no company should deploy an AI system accessible to children without child-specific safety testing and independent oversight.
2. Zero tolerance for sexual abuse — no company should allow its AI to generate sexual images of children — and companies must detect, report, and remove them.
3. And never leave a child in crisis alone — when a child shows signs of distress, the system must stop and connect them to real human support.

When a child is harmed, the answer must never be “the algorithm did it,” the Secretary-General said.

AI-Enabled Weapons Systems

As Artificial Intelligence moves onto the battlefield, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has shared his deep concern about the potentially disastrous consequences. Describing the taking of human life by AI weapons as “morally repugnant,” the Secretary-General has stressed:

“Some decisions must remain forever human — none more than taking a human life.”

The Secretary-General said machines selecting and engaging their target and taking a life — without human control and judgment — must be banned by international law.

It is time to come clean. If AI is to help build a better future, it must be honest about what it costs us now.

To learn more, follow the United Nations on social media.

“It’s time to come clean.” was originally published in We The Peoples on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Every September, world leaders, diplomats, and advocates gather for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high-level week — one of the most important moments on the global diplomatic calendar.

This year, from 22–30 September, UN Headquarters will once again host critical debates and discussions on some of the world’s most pressing issues — from peace and security to climate action, sustainable development, and human rights.

UNGA 80: A Milestone Year

As the UN turns 80, this year’s General Assembly is a powerful reminder of how eight decades of global cooperation have improved lives around the world.

Since 1945, the UN has worked to prevent conflict, deliver humanitarian aid, defend human rights, promote development, and much more. From eradicating smallpox to delivering lifesaving aid in crises, the UN has helped people everywhere build safer, healthier, and more hopeful lives.

Follow Along on Social Media

Make sure to follow the United Nations on social media where we’ll be bringing you highlights, updates, and stories across our digital platforms.

Track the action as leaders seek solutions, young people raise their voices, and the UN community reflects on the progress we’ve made together over 80 years.

Here’s how you can follow the action and use #UNGA to join the conversation on social!

• X (formerly Twitter)
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Threads
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• WhatsApp

What’s in store for this year’s UN General Assembly was originally published in We The Peoples on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Adam has been on my mind lately, more so than usual.

I met Adam years ago in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, back then under siege and heavy bombardment. In the very poor hospital ward, there lay Adam, 10 years old weighing just over 10 kilogrammes. He could not speak, he could not cry. All he could do was make a hoarse sound of breathing. A few days later, Adam died from malnutrition.

A couple of years before that, my colleague Hanaa calls from Syria late at night. She was in tears and could barely say a word. Hanaa eventually told me that Ali, a 16-year-old boy had died. In yet another town under siege, caught up in a war not of his making, he had also died from malnutrition. The following morning, my supervisor, an epidemiologist, said: “For a boy of 16 to die of malnutrition, that says a lot. He’s practically a man. It means there’s no food at all in that part of Syria.”

Back in Yemen in one of the few functioning children’s hospitals in the capital Sana’a, I was walking through the children’s ward during the peak of a cholera outbreak. Boys 15–16 years old, struggling to stay alive. They were so weak and emaciated, they could barely turn around in their beds.

These images and stories haunted me over the years as they have for several among us who worked in severe hunger or famine-like situations.

In 2022, when I had the great pleasure of going in and out of Gaza, I would visit children in UNRWA schools. Immaculately dressed, healthy looking, smiling, eager to learn, jumping up and down in the school playground to the sound of music.

Back then, Gaza was already under a blockade for more than 15 years, food was however available on the markets through imports via Israel, and locally farmed produce. UNRWA was also giving food aid to over 1 million people.

Images of Adam and Ali were quickly pushed to the back of my memory until a few weeks ago when they suddenly reappeared.

Our Gaza teams started sending alarming photos of emaciated babies. The rates of malnutrition are rapidly increasing, spreading across the Gaza Strip. According to WHO more than 50 children died of malnutrition since the siege began on 2 March. UNRWA has meanwhile screened over 242,000 children in the Agency’s clinics and medical points across the war-torn enclave, covering over half the children under the age of five in Gaza. One in ten children screened is malnourished.

Ahlam is seven months old; her family was displaced every month since the war began, in search for non-existing safety. Shocked and her body weakened, Ahlam is severely malnourished. Like many babies in Gaza, her immune system has been damaged by trauma, constant forced displacement, lack of clean water, poor hygiene, and very little food.

Ahlam can survive, but will she?

There are very little therapeutic supplies to treat children with malnutrition as basics are scarce in Gaza. The Israeli Authorities have imposed a tight siege blocking the entry of food, medicines, medical and nutritional supplies and hygiene material include soap. While the siege is sometimes eased, UNRWA (the largest humanitarian organisation in Gaza) has not been allowed to bring in humanitarian assistance since 2 March.

Last week, Salam, another malnourished baby died. She was a few months old. When she finally reached the UNRWA clinic, it was too late.

Meanwhile, eight children queuing for therapeutic support against malnutrition were killed when the Israeli Forces hit the clinic they were in. One of my colleagues who drove past the clinic a few minutes later told me she saw mothers looking out into the abyss, weeping in silence, just like Adam did.

Why should babies die of malnutrition in the 21st century, especially when it’s totally preventable?

At UNRWA, we have over 6,000 trucks of food, hygiene supplies and medicines outside of Gaza waiting for the green light to go in. The aid will mainly help little girls like Ahlam. UNRWA also has more than 1,000 health workers who can provide boys and girls with specialised nutritional services.

Amid the daily livestream of horrors we get from Gaza on our screens, one cannot help but ask how many more Ahlam’s and Salam’s have to die before taking action?

How much longer until a ceasefire is reached so that bombs stop falling on emaciated and dying children….?

Juliette Touma is the UNRWA Director of Communications across all areas of operations. She visited Gaza several times during and before the war.

The clock is ticking fast for starving children in Gaza: will the world take action to save them? was originally published in We The Peoples on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“We cannot, must not and will not let up on climate action.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and President Lula of Brazil held a climate meeting with 17 world leaders representing some of the globe’s largest economies — including China and the European Union — and some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries.

“It was among the most diverse meetings of heads of state focused exclusively on climate in some time,” the Secretary-General explained.

“Yet, I heard a unifying message: Yes, our world faces massive headwinds and a multitude of crises. But we cannot allow climate commitments to be blown off course.”

No region is being spared from the ravages of accelerating climate catastrophes and there is no time to lose as the crisis is deepening poverty, displacing communities, and fuelling conflict and instability.

“Renewables are the economic opportunity of the century. Dissenters and fossil fuel interests may try to stand in the way. But as we heard today, the world is moving forward. Full-speed ahead. No group or government can stop the clean energy revolution.”

The Secretary-General stressed that prices for renewables have plummeted and the sector is booming — creating jobs and boosting competitiveness and growth worldwide — offering the surest route to energy sovereignty and security, and ending dependence on volatile and expensive fossil fuel imports.

“We also know collective climate action works,” António Guterres emphasized.

Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the projected global warming-curve has been bent down — from over four degrees of temperature rise within this century, to 2.6 degrees if current national climate action plans are fully implemented.

But that would still be catastrophic.

Given those risks, the Secretary-General stressed that we must go further and faster, urging leaders to take action on two fronts.

1. Step-up efforts to submit the strongest possible national climate plans well ahead of the upcoming COP30 climate conference in November.
2. Scale-up support for developing countries, as leaders turbocharge their own transitions.

“Across all these fronts, we will keep up the push,” he promised.

The text above is adapted from the Secretary-General’s remarks to the press following the meeting with world leaders. You can read his full remarks here.

World Leaders Take Up Climate Action was originally published in We The Peoples on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

If deployed responsibly, AI can facilitate access to accurate, reliable information, foster free expression, and contribute to healthy and vibrant information ecosystems.

But how do we make this vision a reality?

The UN Security Council took up these questions in a recent informal meeting on “Harnessing safe, inclusive and trustworthy AI for the maintenance of international peace and security.”

One of the focus areas of the meeting was AI’s impact on information integrity.

Two key risks were highlighted:

1. The role of AI in curating and creating information, and people’s growing reliance on this technology to shape their understanding of the world.

At present, tech companies continue to integrate AI into our everyday applications at breakneck speed but genAI tools cannot uniformly be relied on as sources of accurate information.

Ongoing studies and testing show that they frequently do not distinguish between rigorous science on the one hand and dirty data or outright nonsense on the other.

And yet, people are increasingly accessing this convenient and flawed data without being equipped to assess its veracity or reliability. This can contribute to a deeply concerning trend: the lack of trust in any information source and in the information ecosystem more broadly.

People just don’t know what is real and what to believe.

At pivotal societal moments and especially in fragile settings, this can feed into instability and unrest, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

We are, in effect, guinea pigs in an information experiment in which the resilience of our societies is being put to the test.

2. The misuse of AI in facilitating the creation and dissemination of false and hateful information at scale.

This can affect the peace and security of communities and countries.

GenAI tools have made it immeasurably easier for a broad range of actors to spread false claims for financial or strategic gain.

It now costs next to nothing to quickly and easily create a flood of convincing lies and hate, with minor human intervention.

To target specific groups and individuals, actors draw on our personal data that has been sold as part of the advertising supply chain.

Tactics like this can trigger diplomatic crises, incite unrest, and undermine understanding of realities on the ground.

AI-generated deep fake images, audio and video have been weaponized in conflicts from Ukraine, to Gaza, to Sudan.

We’re also now seeing AI used openly and explicitly to generate content designed to undermine social cohesion.

Content that demonises or dehumanises women, refugees, migrants, and minorities.

Content that is anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, racist and xenophobic.

The UN has experienced grave impacts on our missions and priorities.

Peace and humanitarian operations are targeted with false and hateful narratives, negatively affecting the safety and security of UN personnel and making the tasks of implementing their mandates harder.

In turn, this is impacting communities small and large, jeopardizing their stability.

What are some of the concrete steps needed to address these areas of risk?

The UN system has been ramping up efforts.

This includes the 3R approach:

research, risk assessment and response.

Through research we can better understand information risks in complex, multiplatform, multilingual environments.

Our work includes outreach with affected communities to hear and understand their perceptions and concerns.

UN entities then assess the risk posed to UN mandate delivery and thematic priorities.

We use this insight to design appropriate mitigation and response measures.

Most immediately, this means quick and proactive communication to address information voids.

This can be done through our own channels and also via coalitions with community leaders, influencers and civil society groups.

Of course, these efforts require resources, including for skills training and technology.

We also continue to support the efforts of the international community, including through our work to implement the UN Global Principles for Information Integrity.

The Principles provide a framework for action to strengthen the information ecosystem — and are a resource to UN member countries in meeting the commitments agreed in the Global Digital Compact.

The Principles contain recommendations for a wide range of stakeholders around five pillars: societal trust and resilience; healthy incentives; public empowerment; independent, free and pluralistic media; and transparency and research.

Three key recommendation areas are highlighted below.

1. Countries play a central role in shaping information spaces, beginning with obligations to respect, protect and promote human rights, in particular the right to freedom of expression.

This means that regulatory measures to address information integrity comply with applicable international law and are carried out with the full participation of civil society.

Freedom of expression requires not only that people are able to express their views, but that they are able to seek and receive ideas and information of all kinds.

It is exponentially harder to do this when you’re in a polarized, opaque information environment crowded with lies and hate.

In such a landscape, guardrails allow for more free speech, not less, and protect people who feel unsafe in online spaces, giving voice to those otherwise silenced.

Guardrails can help enable inclusive access to information.

And they can support and encourage innovation and help foster public trust in fast-emerging AI technologies.

There is growing awareness among the communities the UN serves that the sooner guardrails are established, the less the risk for us all.

2. Information integrity is not possible without a free, independent and pluralistic media.

Professional journalism requires considerable investment. Yet the advertising-driven business model which long supported independent media has drastically eroded.

AI has prompted new concerns. Quality journalism is being scraped and summarized or used to train AI without permission or compensation.

GenAI search summaries replacing standard search results can reduce web traffic to news sites, further affecting revenue streams.

Many news outlets, particularly at the local level, just can’t compete. For them it is not just a matter of relevance. It is a matter of survival.

The result is news deserts. The vacuum is filled by AI-generated articles or downgraded versions of journalistic content, or malicious content imitating news.

This can be particularly destabilising in conflict and crisis zones.

Responses must therefore urgently support sustainable business models for public interest media.

They must also ensure better protection for media workers, along with researchers, academics and civil society, who are under attack around the world.

3. There is an urgent global need for public empowerment in the information ecosystem, including through measures to boost resilience.

Media and digital literacy skills can allow people to navigate information spaces safely and effectively.

Countries can prioritize the literacy needs of groups in vulnerable and marginalized situations — who are often those most adversely affected by information risks.

They can also undertake literacy efforts around specific problems related to AI, keeping up with new and emerging technologies

Public awareness must improve around online rights, how AI works, and how personal data is used.

The urgency of the challenge requires multi stakeholder coalitions with collaborations between countries to support capacity building and increase global resilience.

This is the only viable path to an information ecosystem in which AI innovation is harnessed for information integrity, human rights and international peace and security.

The text above is adapted from a briefing to the Security Council by Charlotte Scaddan, Senior Adviser on Information Integrity, UN Global Communications

Information Integrity in the AI Age was originally published in We The Peoples on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“The UN has never been more needed. Our values have never been more relevant. And the needs have never been greater.”

As the United Nations marks 80 years of working on behalf of people all over the world, Secretary-General António Guterres reflected on the Organization’s invaluable role as the essential one-of-a-kind meeting ground to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights.

“The more the UN does together to address big challenges around the world, the less the burden on individual countries to do it alone,” stressed the Secretary-General.

“It is essential that an organizational system as complex and crucial as the United Nations subjects itself to rigorous and regular scrutiny to assess its fitness for purpose in carrying out its goals efficiently,” he continued, outlining the ambitious reform agenda he undertook from the outset of his mandate.

➡️To be more effective and cost-effective.

➡️To simplify procedures and decentralize decisions.

➡️To enhance transparency and accountability.

➡️To shift capacities to areas such as data and digital.

Stressing the need to build an even strong and more effective United Nations that delivers for people and is tuned to the 21st century, the Secretary-General continued:

“Our 80th anniversary year is a prime moment to expand all our efforts, recognizing the need for even greater urgency and ambition. That’s why I am launching the UN80 initiative to present to member countries proposals in three areas:

➡️First, rapidly identifying efficiencies and improvements in the way we work.

➡️Second, thoroughly reviewing the implementation of all mandates, which have significantly increased in recent years.

➡️Third, a strategic review of deeper, more structural changes and programme realignment in the UN System.”

“We must ensure value for money while advancing shared values,” said the Secretary-General, stressing that every effort must be made to better-serve the people whose lives depend on the United Nations.

The text above is adapted from the Secretary-General’s remarks to the press launching his UN80 initiative. You can read his full remarks here.

Secretary-General Launches UN80 Reform Initiative was originally published in We The Peoples on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations.

Born out of the ashes of the Second World War, the organization was the result of a global commitment to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”

The founding of the UN also signaled a commitment to an entirely new level of international cooperation grounded in international law and the UN Charter.

Eight decades later, one can draw a direct line between the creation of the United Nations and the prevention of a third world war.

Today, the United Nations remains the essential, one-of-a-kind meeting ground to advance peace, prosperity and human rights.

The UN works tirelessly to support countries as they tackle poverty, hunger and disease, while also supporting people in need during times of conflict and disaster.

The organization has advanced justice and fairness through international law and respect for human rights, while also pushing for peace through dialogue, debate, diplomacy and consensus-building.

Multilateral cooperation is the beating heart of the United Nations, but multilateralism is only as strong as each and every country’s commitment to it.

And because we believe in the singular value and purpose of the United Nations, we always strive to improve the institution and the way we work.

Amid the profound challenges facing our world today, global solidarity and solutions are needed more than ever.

Adapted from the remarks of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to the Security Council on 18 February 2025.

80 Years of the United Nations was originally published in We The Peoples on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Every year, world leaders, advocates and other influential voices gather at the United Nations General Assembly in New York to seek solutions to some of humanity’s most pressing problems.

This year, leaders will come together for the Summit of the Future, which represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unite to tackle the main challenges facing our world today, while also safeguarding our collective future.

From tackling climate change to addressing global health issues; leaders at UNGA 79 will share their ideas and vision for creating a better future for all.

While these events and more are unfolding in New York, people everywhere can be part of the action thanks to social media!

Through our unique Act Now AR filter activation on Instagram, people around the world are invited to share their commitment to creating a more inclusive and sustainable world for everyone.

Here’s how you can follow the action and join the conversation at #UNGA!

X (formerly Twitter)

Facebook

Instagram

Threads

TikTok

LinkedIn

GIPHY

You can also follow updates from across the UN system here on Medium.

• UNICEF
• UN Refugee Agency
• World Food Programme
• World Health Organization
• United Nations OCHA
• UN Women
• UN Development
• International Organization for Migration
• United Nations Foundation

UNGA 79 on Social Media was originally published in We The Peoples on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As conflicts rage and geopolitical divisions grow, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres laid out his key priorities for 2024 to the UN General Assembly this week, emphasizing the urgent need to create the conditions for peace around the world.

The following is an excerpt of his remarks.

Our organization was founded on the pursuit of peace. Peace is our raison d’être.

Yet as I scan the landscape of today’s world, the one thing missing most dramatically is peace.

People want peace and security. People want peace and dignity. And, frankly, they want peace and quiet.

For millions of people caught up in conflict around the world, life is a deadly, daily, hungry hell. Record numbers are fleeing their homes in search of safety.

They are crying out for peace. We must hear them, and act.

António Guterres on Twitter: "Peace is humanity's greatest responsibility.In this difficult & divided moment, let's meet that obligation for today & future generations.I will never give up fighting for peace. pic.twitter.com/hgjZHbgqjS / Twitter"

Peace is humanity's greatest responsibility.In this difficult & divided moment, let's meet that obligation for today & future generations.I will never give up fighting for peace. pic.twitter.com/hgjZHbgqjS

Peace is more than a noble vision. Peace is a rallying cry. It is a call to action.

Our obligation is to act together for peace in all its dimensions.

Peace can achieve wonders that wars never will.

Wars destroy. Peace builds.

But in today’s troubled world, building peace is a conscious, bold and even radical act. It is humanity’s greatest responsibility. And that responsibility belongs to us all — individually and collectively.

In this difficult and divided moment, let’s meet that obligation for today and future generations.

Starting here. Starting now.

For my part, I can guarantee that I will never give up fighting for peace.

United Nations on Twitter: ""I can guarantee that I will never give up fighting for peace."@antonioguterres says peace is humanity's greatest responsibility.A responsibility that belongs to us all - individually and collectively. pic.twitter.com/TSAKQ1YzgR / Twitter"

"I can guarantee that I will never give up fighting for peace."@antonioguterres says peace is humanity's greatest responsibility.A responsibility that belongs to us all - individually and collectively. pic.twitter.com/TSAKQ1YzgR

The full text of the Secretary-General’s statement can be found here.

More from the UN system here on Medium.

• UNICEF
• UN Refugee Agency
• World Food Programme
• World Health Organization
• United Nations OCHA
• UN Women
• UN Development
• International Organization for Migration
• United Nations Foundation

“I will never give up fighting for peace.” was originally published in We The Peoples on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.