Editorial: UN Presidency; Yaounde can help Yang make or mar.

In taking the oath of office, he set for himself an intricate assignment in which he cannot succeed without the help of the Cameroon government, given that "charity begins at home", as the adage teaches.

"I will urge the assembly to intensify its determination to prioritise the resolution of conflicts, including the intractable ones in the Gaza Strip, Haiti and Ukraine," he said, adding that "human rights will remain at the core of our General Assembly".

Yang also emphasised that he would work to strengthen international legal frameworks. But those are not all of the dire problems he would encounter.

Others, as pointed out by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, as at last year, were very "tumultuous," with poverty, inequality and injustice as well as conflict and violence persisting.

Guterres also recalled that last year was "the hottest" year on record, saying "this session also closes at a time of growing hope and inspiration in what we can achieve if we work as one".

The UN scribe emphasised that many tasks lie ahead for member states in the 79th session. 

"This is the place where solutions are made. And we need solutions across the board,” Guterres said.

He added that: "In confronting the challenges before us, the United Nations General Assembly remains an indispensable tool and a vital pathway towards a peaceful and just future for all peoples". 

Guterres told diplomats that: “Step by step, solution by solution, we can rebuild trust and faith in one another, and in what we can accomplish through collaboration and solidarity”.

Yang's predecessor, Dennis Francis, in evaluating his achievement, said, due to various circumstances, he was unable to meet with Israelis and Palestinians on the ground but closely followed developments and raised the issue at every meeting.

Francis further expressed his heartfelt wish that the ongoing efforts would lead to a ceasefire and a long-term political solution.

Emphasising that manmade suffering had increased globally, with Gaza being one of the most visible examples, Francis, said: "Over the course of last year, we have witnessed a scale of deaths and destruction not seen in decades".

On May 10, a resolution adopted at the General Assembly called for the reconsideration of Palestine’s UN membership in the UN Security Council and the granting of additional rights to Palestine, which holds observer status.

The resolution called for arrangements to allow Palestine to participate in General Assembly sessions, UN meetings and conferences, specifying that this would be done "on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent".

In this regard, Yang announced that the necessary arrangements had been made. Palestine’s Permanent Mission to the UN announced via social media that they would take their place among member states for the first time by participating in the General Assembly session.

The 79th UN General Assembly, which annually brings world leaders together in New York, will officially open on September 22, with the "Summit of the Future"

The high-level week, during which world leaders deliver their speeches, will begin on September 24. High-level participation from 190 countries is expected at the General Assembly.

Yang will preside at the upcoming gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly; first at the Summit of the Future on September 22 to 23, called by the Secretary General to spur multilateral action on global issues. 

Immediately after the summit ends, world leaders will hold their annual global meeting from September 24 to 30, with public speeches in the Assembly and lots of private meetings where a lot of the world’s business often gets done.

Yaounde will obviously send a high-level delegation. The global media radar should be on the situation in Cameroon, where human rights in the North West and South West Regions are abused with impunity. Cameroon is ranked as one of the top six spots in Africa with embroiled conflict.

For The Guardian Post, Yang can only succeed in his "determination to prioritise the resolution of conflicts" as the President of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, if Yaounde can resolve the conflict in the North West and South West Regions that is in its eighth year. That can be done if there is the political will.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3227 of Thursday September 12, 2024