UNITED NATIONS, United States, Sept 29, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The UN General
Assembly may be one of the most unwieldy events on the diplomatic calendar,
with non-stop speeches by 193 leaders and hundreds more side events, all in a
few blocks along New York’s East River.
But for Maria Fernanda Espinosa, the newly-elected president of the General
Assembly who watches over the gathering, the format is spot-on.
The United Nations is “the only place in the world where heads of state and
government can come and say what they think and have bilateral contacts with
far-away countries,” said Espinosa, 54, a poet with a doctorate in philosophy
who has held a number of senior ministerial posts in Ecuador.
“Europe can speak with Pacific islands, the Pacific islands with Latin
America, and the Caribbean with Africa and Asia,” she said.
For a full week from 9 am to 9 pm, world leaders take their turns at the
General Assembly rostrum. Some draw attention — such as New Zealand’s Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern, who came with her three-month-old baby — but often
the speeches are ignored by all but junior delegates and each nation’s media.
And this year, in a rarity, the General Assembly saw laughter — when US
President Donald Trump began boasting in superlative terms of his domestic
record, as is his wont in front of domestic audiences.
Was the General Assembly laughing at him or with him?
“I really don’t know,” Espinosa said diplomatically. “His comeback was very
sharp, saying that he wasn’t expecting that reaction and smiling as well.”
The General Assembly has a clear guideline of 15 minutes per speech but the
United Nations is reluctant to enforce it.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, rushing to New York to appear after
threats by Trump, spoke for 50 minutes.
But Espinosa noted that Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite spoke for
just five minutes — a bit long for her, as last year her address lasted four
minutes.
“Leaders have their own styles,” Espinosa said. “The length has nothing to
do with the quality.”
– Symbolism of full room –
The week of diplomacy also featured 450 side events on everything from
banning nuclear weapons to fighting tuberculosis.
The number of events is going up each year, often emptying the General
Assembly.
Espinosa said she had urged every delegation to listen to the speakers.
“This had an effect. The room isn’t completely full but quite a few
delegations listen,” she said.
The attendance, she said, is “symbolically very important.”
More than 130 countries were represented at the General Assembly by their
heads of state or government — more than the 115 last year, she said.
“Many analysts say that multilateralism is no longer efficient and leaders
are calling it into question,” she said, after speeches notably by Trump that
emphasized going it alone.
“But at the same time, this week, New York was the capital of global
power.”