United Nations: The high-level segment of the General Assembly will have for the first time a virtual format and without the attendance of world leaders for that event, which is already organized today at the United Nations (UN), Prensa Latina publishes.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Reem Abaza, reported that each member state of the United Nations, observer state and organizations like the European Union were invited to present a pre-recorded video, which will be delivered by a high-level official next September.
The material will be broadcast in the hall of the largest United Nations agency and also digitally during the dates of the high-level debate, she said.
However, the room will not be empty, since the videos will be presented by a diplomat from each state, who will be physically present, the spokesperson explained.
This same procedure will apply to a series of scheduled high-level special sessions, including a commemoration for the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, a summit on biodiversity, and a meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
Later, Abaza said, more details will be provided on the organization of this year’s general debate events, including logistics.
But side events, such as New York Climate Week, are unlikely to take place face-to-face and instead move to digital platforms as suggested by the President of the UN General Assembly at its 74th session , Tijjani Muhammad-Bande.
The decision to present prerecorded videos to the high-level segment of the largest United Nations body was made on Wednesday, using the novel ‘silence procedure’ method.
Under this procedure, the President of the General Assembly distributes the draft resolutions and grants member states a period of at least 72 hours to present objections. If there are no objections, a letter is distributed confirming that the resolution has been adopted.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the United Nations bodies transform their working methods and most of the events were transferred to virtual platforms.
Many countries around the world have closed their borders and there are numerous flight restrictions in order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, making it highly complex and risky to gather high dignitaries from around the globe at the UN headquarters in New York.
In addition, the United States has been the country with the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world for months, and projections indicate that this upward trend will continue.