The 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is taking place at the UN Headquarters in New York from 22 to 27 September, bringing together world leaders to address a range of pressing global challenges. The focus this year is particularly acute on Africa, with African leadership playing a key role in shaping the agenda and raising the continent’s voice on a global stage.
The UNGA is an annual world leaders’ summit that has gone on for nearly eight decades since the international body’s founding in San Francisco.
It’s a place for long speeches, private country-to-country whisper sessions, and group meetings on everything from regulating artificial intelligence to global conflicts.
This year features a UN once again caught in a debate over its relevancy while attempting to stem wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. All of which its Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is keen to remedy.
The highlight of the September meetings will undoubtedly be the Summit of the Future, which aims to forge a new international consensus on “how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future.” The summit seeks global endorsement for the Pact for the Future, a roadmap for adapting the multilateral system to address the challenges of the 21st century.
The Summit comes at a critical time. While the current multilateral system has served the world well for the past 80 years, it faces increasing challenges in tackling rising inequality, job insecurity, environmental degradation, and escalating social and geopolitical tensions. As documented by the midpoint review of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during last year’s UNGA, despite some successes, shortfalls in progress are widespread.
A growing consensus and demand for profound reforms are emerging. The Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution, along with numerous scholars and think tanks from the Global North and Global South, have proposed recommendations to modernize various multilateral institutions, including the United Nations Security Council, the World Trade Organization, and the global financial architecture comprising the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Implementing these recommendations will equip the multilateral system to deliver on the aspirations outlined in the Pact for the Future.
This year’s UNGA will place Africa at the centre of global discussions, with former Prime Minister of Cameroon Philémon Yang serving as president of the 79th Session under the theme “Unity and diversity for advancing peace, sustainable development, and human dignity, everywhere and for all.” Africa’s influence will be visible throughout key debates and initiatives. Spearheaded by the Cameroon presidency, this year’s General Debate topic “Leaving no one behind” is particularly timely, as there are only six years left to accelerate progress on the SDGs, especially in Africa.
Only 6% of the measurable SDG targets are currently on track to meet the 2030 deadline in Africa, compared to 16% globally. Significant attention and resources must be poured into accelerating SDG progress in Africa, where the average SDG Index score for African countries is 10 points lower than the global score (66.7) and more than 20 points lower than that of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries (77.8), with Goal 9—Industry, innovation, and infrastructure representing the largest gap between Africa and the rest of the world.
One of the most anticipated events of this year’s UNGA is the Summit of the Future, which will bring Member States together to discuss increasing the effectiveness of international cooperation in facing future challenges. The focus will be on five key themes in which African priorities and challenges are at the forefront:
- Sustainable development and financing: Africa needs to invest an estimated $1.3 trillion a year to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
- Peace and security: Three percent of Africa’s population (45 million) has been forcibly displaced—a higher percentage and higher absolute number than any other major region in the world.
- A digital future for all: Only 25% of Africans are online, compared to 67% globally, while sub-Saharan Africa is home to half (400 million) of the people worldwide who lack mobile broadband coverage.
- Youth and future generations: Sixty percent of Africa’s population is under 25 today and by 2100, half of the world’s youth will be African.
- Global governance: Africa represents the largest regional bloc in the UN, with 28% of votes, but does not hold a permanent seat at the UN Security Council.
Successfully achieving the SDGs and finding solutions across the Summit’s five key themes requires the world’s attention, partnership, and action in Africa in particular. There can be no global prosperity without African prosperity. This year’s UNGA is an essential platform for Africa to influence global collaboration, highlighting the fact that partnering with Africa is paramount to the future success of multilateral efforts for peace, prosperity, and development across the world.
The world is also grappling with the implications of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and the impact it could have on children’s learning and development. Since 2022, the explosion of generative AI has sparked debate about its perils and promises. Some herald the promise of AI to optimise children’s learning experiences while others warn it will further inequality. The Center for Universal Education (CUE) at Brookings is embarking on a two-year initiative to conduct a pre-mortem on generative AI in the context of education globally. In other words, they will explore what could go wrong and what steps can be taken now to prevent potential negative impacts and support positive outcomes.
