UNGA President Unveils Priorities for Remainder of 79th Session

President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Philemon Yang briefed Member States on his priorities for the remainder of the Assembly’s 79th session, which, he said, align with the three pillars of the UN: peace and security; human rights; and sustainable development. In pursuing these priorities, Yang will be guided by his vision, ‘Unity in diversity for the advancement of peace, sustainable development, and human dignity for everyone, everywhere.’

Among the UNGA’s remaining mandated activities for 2025, he mentioned the high-level meeting to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the World Programme of Action for Youth; the Second World Summit for Social Development; and the high-level meeting to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women. A high-level meeting on structural barriers faced by middle-income countries (MICs) in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will also convene.

Yang underscored the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) later this year as an opportunity to advance efforts to create a free, open, and secure digital future for all. He said the establishment of an Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence (AI) will help build a reliable scientific knowledge base to close the digital divides.

The President called attention to the Third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) that, through an action-oriented declaration, will support the implementation of SDG 14 (life below water) and help foster blue economies. He also said he will convene a high-level interactive dialogue on culture and sustainable development and a high-level meeting on sand and dust storms.

Among efforts to leave no one behind, Yang highlighted: the Second International Decade for People of African Descent 2025-2034; last year’s High-level meeting to mark the 25th Anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women; and the forthcoming high-level meeting on the recommendations of the Working Group on Ageing.

The President indicated he will support Member States’ actions in advancing the implementation of the Pact for the Future, in line with the Secretary-General’s priorities, through a number of “signature events.” These include a co-facilitators’ meeting on mainstreaming the Pact’s commitments into existing intergovernmental processes and three informal dialogues in March, May, and July 2025 that will, respectively, focus on the following topics:

The Pact for the Future: Means of implementation;
The Pact for the Future: Monitoring and evaluation; and
The Pact for the Future: Looking ahead to 2028.

Yang will convene a townhall meeting with civil society organizations (CSO) to discuss the role they can play in the Pact’s implementation. He will also conduct outreach and advocacy activities, including the publication of the three dialogues’ summaries, “to help transform the Pact’s vision into meaningful actions.” The President highlighted the importance of national ownership of the Pact for the Future, to obtain sustainable outcomes at the multilateral level, and underscored the crucial role of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in elevating the urgency of financing the SDGs.

Announcing additional activities to support each of his priorities, Yang noted:

Peace and security: 1) a high-level thematic debate on the multifaceted aspects of peace and security in Africa; and 2) a joint UNGA and UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meeting, supported by the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, to spotlight the challenges posed by the spread of small arms and light weapons to peace and sustainable development;
Human rights: 1) a high-level meeting on the protection of human dignity in armed conflict, co-hosted with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); 2) reconstitution of the Advisory Board on Gender Equality, focused on the promotion of women’s economic empowerment and participation; and 3) awareness raising and promotion of the prohibition and elimination of child labor, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers;
Sustainable development, with a focus on FfD: 1) a meeting, in collaboration with the Inter-Parliamentary Union, on scaling up action on financing for the SDGs; and 2) an interactive multi-stakeholder dialogue to assess the implementation of commitments made towards Africa’s development.

The President will endeavor to foster dialogue and build trust by holding “Palaver Tree” Dialogues – informal, interactive, and restricted dialogues with Member States on topical issues.

To embrace “unity in diversity,” a Task Force on Multilingualism within Yang’s office will develop an action plan to better integrate multilingualism into the work of the UNGA’s 79th session.

On 26 June 2025, the President will convene a commemorative plenary meeting to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the UN Charter. [Remarks by President Philemon Yang at the Briefing on the Priorities for the Resumed Part of the UNGA’s 79th Session] [UN News Story]