This will be \u201cno ordinary session,\u201d she pledged, with the multilateral system beset by overlapping crises and heightened disunity.<\/p>\n
A former foreign minister of Germany, Ms. Baerbock becomes only the fifth woman in history to preside over the General Assembly.<\/p>\n
In a symbolic gesture linking past to present, she swore her oath on the UN\u2019s founding Charter from the San Francisco Conference in 1945 \u2013 and accepted the Assembly\u2019s ornate gavel from her predecessor, Phil\u00e9mon Yang of Cameroon.<\/p>\n
The Charter itself, preserved by the US National Archives, has returned to UN Headquarters for the first time in decades.<\/p>\n
Now on display through September, the 1945 document is more than a historical artifact \u2013 it is a living reminder of the collective pledge to build peace, uphold human rights and pursue shared values and goals through multilateral cooperation.<\/p>\n
The gavel carries its own storied weight. A gift from Iceland, it is larger and more ornate than the ones used in UN conference rooms. The symbol of order in the \u201cparliament of the world,\u201d it is used to open and close meetings, adopt resolutions, and, at times, bring the Assembly to silence.<\/p>\n
Assembly President Baerbock speaks to reporters outside the General Assembly Hall.<\/p>\n
In her address<\/a>, Ms. Baerbock acknowledged the grim realities facing millions across the globe \u2013 from children starving in Gaza and Afghan girls barred from school \u2013 to families in Ukraine hiding from missile attacks, and Pacific Islanders watching their homes swallowed by the sea.<\/p>\n \u201cOur world is in pain<\/strong>, indeed,\u201d she told delegates in the General Assembly Hall.<\/p>\n \u201cBut imagine how much more pain there would be without the United Nations.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Baerbock underscored the UN\u2019s vital role in humanitarian assistance, citing the millions who rely on agencies such as the UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF<\/a>), the World Food Programme (WFP<\/a>) and the World Health Organization (WHO<\/a>).<\/p>\n She urged Member States to make the UN \u201cfit for the 21st century\u201d by advancing reforms, implementing the Pact for the Future adopted last year, and focusing on substance over procedure.<\/p>\n \u201cThe General Assembly must focus on its mandates and deliver on its commitments,<\/strong>\u201d she said, promising to serve all 193 members equally, to be \u201ca bridge builder,\u201d and to ensure every voice is heard.<\/p>\n Among the priorities she set for the year ahead are implementing the UN80 reform agenda, guiding the process of selecting the next Secretary-General, and advancing peace, sustainable development, and human rights.<\/p>\n Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres addresses the first plenary meeting of the 80th session of the General Assembly.<\/p>\n Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a>, congratulating Ms. Baerbock on her election, praised her vision and experience, while urging governments to summon the same resolve that brought nations together to establish the UN 80 years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United Nations provides the place. The Charter provides the tools,<\/strong>\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cBut nothing can happen without this Assembly \u2013 all of you \u2013 working as one.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Guterres stressed the need to heal divisions, recommit to international law, accelerate action on the Sustainable Development Goals<\/a>, and transition to renewable energy while supporting developing countries.<\/p>\n He pointed to last year\u2019s Pact for the Future as a \u201cshot in the arm\u201d for multilateralism and called on Member States to \u201cre-build trust and faith in one another.\u201d<\/p>\n Phil\u00e9mon Yang (right), President of the General Assembly at its 79th session presents the Assembly’s iconic gavel to Annalena Baerbock (centre), President of the Assembly at its 80th session. On the left is Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres.<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, outgoing Assembly President Phil\u00e9mon Yang closed the 79th session, highlighting initiatives on humanitarian law, small arms control, sustainable development, and child labour \u2013 as well as dialogues on multilingualism and the role of women in mediation.<\/p>\n Mr. Yang, who emphasised gender equality and Security Council<\/a> reform during his tenure, also oversaw the 80th anniversary commemoration.<\/p>\n \u201cMember States made clear that in spite of rising global conflicts, the Charter, and the United Nations itself, represent a collective promise for a better future world<\/strong>,\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ms. Baerbock\u2019s presidency comes at a pivotal moment for the United Nations.<\/p>\n Alongside navigating conflicts from Ukraine to Sudan, the Assembly will oversee the implementation of the Pact for the Future and prepare for the critical selection of the next Secretary-General.<\/p>\n She challenged delegates to embrace courage and unity: \u201cIf girls in Afghanistan or parents in Gaza can wake up \u2013 in the darkest hours of life \u2013 and push forward, then so can we. We owe it to them.<\/strong> But we owe it also to ourselves, because there is simply no alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This will be \u201cno ordinary session,\u201d she pledged, with the multilateral system beset by overlapping crises and heightened disunity. A former foreign minister of Germany, Ms. Baerbock becomes only the fifth woman in history to preside over the General Assembly. In a symbolic gesture linking past to present, she swore her oath on the UN\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11611],"tags":[15259,19916,5647,19917,462,1748,19915,7181,5153],"class_list":["post-29649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spyballoon-global-news","tag-assembly","tag-baerbock","tag-call","tag-courage","tag-general","tag-opens","tag-ordinary","tag-reform","tag-session"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/09-09-2025-UN_Photo-GA80_First_Plenary.jpeg\/image770x420cropped.jpg",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/global.unit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GLOBAL NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"This will be \u201cno ordinary session,\u201d she pledged, with the multilateral system beset by overlapping crises and heightened disunity. A former foreign minister of Germany, Ms. Baerbock becomes only the fifth woman in history to preside over the General Assembly. In a symbolic gesture linking past to present, she swore her oath on the UN\u2019s…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29649"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29651,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29649\/revisions\/29651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Charter is not self-executing: Guterres<\/h2>\n
\u2018Collective promise\u2019 remains<\/h2>\n
A year of high stakes<\/h2>\n