Ruto leaves for New York ahead of UN General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is gearing up for its yearly gathering of world leaders, a week filled with diplomacy, dealmaking, speeches, and unique terminology. The meeting, also known as "High-level Week," invites presidents, prime ministers, monarchs, and other top leaders from all 193 U.N. member countries to address the world and engage in dialogue.

The centerpiece of the week is the General Debate, where each country's leader delivers a state-of-the-world speech. This year's theme is "restoring trust, managing transformation" and ensuring the 81-year-old United Nations "delivers for all." However, the debate often involves speeches rather than interactive discussions, with rebuttals allowed at the end of each long day.

Private meetings between high-ranking officials of two countries, known as bilateral or "bilat" for short, play a significant role in the assembly. These tête-à-têtes are considered by many UNGA veterans as the gathering's real value. Additionally, meetings of cabinet-level officials, such as foreign ministers, are referred to as ministerial.

The U.N.'s most powerful component, the Security Council, also holds high-wattage meetings during the General Assembly's week. The 15-member council is responsible for maintaining international peace and security, with the power to enact binding resolutions, impose sanctions, and deploy peacekeeping troops. Five permanent members with veto power—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—form the P5.

Other terms associated with the UNGA include the E10, the Security Council's 10 elected, nonpermanent members; calls for council reform; the Group of 77 and China (G77), a developing-countries interest group; the COP31, a major U.N. climate conference; the 1.5 degrees Celsius climate threshold; the U.N.'s sustainable development goals (SDGs); small island developing states (SIDS); the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) developing-economies coalition; and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).