It’s that time of year! The 81st United Nations General Assembly is officially underway. This UNGA I’m partnering with the United Nations Foundation’s [Re]Group Substack to bring you livestreams and special coverage. More on that below!
Your Cheat Sheet
The main events of UNGA begin next Tuesday, the 22nd, with the start of the General Debate. This is the parade of presidents and prime ministers who address the world from the General Assembly dais.
At about 9 a.m. that morning, we’ll hear the final UNGA speech from UN Secretary-General António Guterres. He’s usually quite blunt in these speeches, and I expect his valedictory address will be especially sharp about the sordid state of multilateralism today—and the dire consequences of a world that can’t get cooperation right.
We’ll also hear from the new President of the General Assembly, Khalilur Rahman of Bangladesh.
Then comes the main event. As is tradition, the President of Brazil speaks first, followed by the President of the United States.
Here’s the latest speakers list. (NB: “HS” stands for Head of State. “HG” stands for Head of Government.)
On the most recent episode of To Save Us From Hell, Anjali Dayal and I preview some of these speeches we are most anticipating. We dissect the speakers list and share some of the geopolitical drama we expect to unfold at UNGA. Do check out that episode for deeper analysis.
As always, the presence of so many leaders in the same place at the same time means that the UN is also convening a number of High-Level Meetings on specific topics. Two, in particular, that I’ll be following are:
High-Level Meeting to Address the Existential Threats Posed by Sea-Level Rise: September 24, 2026
High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response: September 25, 2026
(And on this latter meeting, don’t miss my conversation with Helen Clark last month about the significance of this gathering on pandemics, what it can accomplish, and what is at stake.)
My UNGA Plans
I’ll be hanging around the UN and attending various events around New York from Monday through Thursday.
Monday evening the 21st, I’ll be attending the annual Goalkeepers event hosted by the Gates Foundation (which is a supporter of Global Dispatches.) Goalkeepers is a major annual event focused on accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. On September 15, the Gates Foundation released its annual Goalkeepers report, which focused on leveraging artificial intelligence in support of sustainable development and announced a $1 billion pledge toward that goal. I suspect this will be a major focus of this year’s event.
Tuesday, September 22, is the big day of UNGA. For most of the morning and into the afternoon, I’ll be at Al Jazeera English’s pop-up studio at the UN, offering live analysis of what I’m seeing and hearing. I always love doing live TV, and this is certainly an interesting time. You can tune in wherever you watch Al Jazeera.
A UNGA 81 Partnership with [Re]Group
As mentioned above, Global Dispatches is partnering with the UN Foundation’s [Re]Group Playbook to offer live updates and analysis throughout UNGA. And also commentary throughout the year.
This will kick off on Thursday, September 17, with a Substack Live featuring Elizabeth Cousens, President and CEO of the UN Foundation. This conversation will offer a useful preview of the key stories that will drive the agenda at UNGA this year. It will be free for everyone, though be sure to subscribe to Global Dispatches (and [Re]Group!) to get notified when we go live.
On Tuesday afternoon the 22nd, we’ll go live again, this time with my To Save Us From Hell co-host Anjali Dayal and Sofia Borges, who recently served as chief of staff to the President of the General Assembly and is a senior vice president at the UN Foundation. We’ll respond to some of the key speeches delivered thus far, including President Trump’s, and discuss what we are seeing and hearing around UNGA. This Tuesday-of-UNGA livestream has become something of a tradition, and I’m really looking forward to it.
My partnership with [Re]Group also includes some written content. At the end of this week, look out for an essay from me about the current race for UN Secretary-General. I’m aiming to publish that piece shortly after the results of the latest straw poll are released on Friday morning. Please be sure to subscribe to [Re]Group to get that essay as soon as it’s available.
All my content next week will be free. No Paywalls. But if you want to support my work — and the copious amounts of caffeine I’ll consume next week — please get a paid subscription at any level. Your support helps me more than you might know. At the end of the month, I’ll reach out to all my paid subscribers and send you a Global Dispatches sticker in the mail if you’d like.
Or you can support at full price below.
Finally: if you are around UNGA— say hi! If there’s an event you think I should attend, people you think I should meet, or if there’s anything else on your mind, please send me an email.
Stay hydrated, my friends!
Dear Mark,
My ChatGPT memo to the next UNSG is hopefully reaching you here and hope you can take use of it
Am also based on justice I now take use of Perry Mason tv - series from 1957 to 1966 in with Raymond Burr, in mostly all my text to tell the story that we need more justice to our self and the world and especially when electing the new UNSG
My self am going for Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett , as she’s for me neutral and clean from the native born and educated from the bottom to where she today can help us all heal , start trust again and with a UN who’s clean power nobody big or small can play with anymore.
And she would have all 8.34 billion people of the world backing her up to ensure the UN is successful.
I just want to ask if you agree, all delegates should be invited and addressed with as the Representative of Norway 🇳🇴 in the capacity as Prime Minister.
All delegates should newer be given status on this UN platforms as anybody els than a Representative of the country they speech for their own country and peoples demands or requests to be herd
The United Nations 🇺🇳 is a place we all are naked and should have nothing to hide and tell the truth as we the population is tired of a UN only for the few and not follow the UN 🇺🇳 charters for rules and regulations and use its power to stop 🛑 any conflicts or wars manmade and approved by the UN 🇺🇳 where millions of people has been killed .
If the UN 🇺🇳 is not responsible, who is than responsible???🇺🇳
The UN was given a charter for rules and regulations, and for any second it did not feel it could do the job, it should have made amendments to the charters so the UNSG was the power to stop 🛑 anything approved by all the 193 + 2 members of the UN 🇺🇳
The UN 🇺🇳 can’t be that we the retired and onboard staff has no power , so why do we than work, can be killed or handicapped or loose your contract because the UN 🇺🇳 don’t have the power or respect anymore, we the UN workforce should and can newer work a place where you are not working for full power of the UN charters of rules and regulations.
For me that is peace and prosperity for us all 8.34 billion population of the world 🌎 with a climate solutions we all also working for and solve.
Therefore nobody in the UN 🇺🇳 should accept that we can’t do the job assigned to the UN , yes with now the woman and mother who I like to take and get the job on 1 January 2027 , she will put the UN 🇺🇳 house 🏡 in order as ligature ( Justice for all - Perry Mason ) and therefore has the power to end all conflicts and wars now in 2027 , where she than by 2028 has proven the UN 🇺🇳 succeeded as now all working for same purpose to keep Mother Earth 🌍 Happy 🥰🌎🇺🇳🌞👩🌾🤱💐
Terje Andersen
Field Service Retired
https://chatgpt.com/s/t_6aa6438a84048191abd325b72c3c3176