The veteran diplomat from Trinidad and Tobago reflected on his term as President of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly which ended 10 September 2024.
Speaking on the eve of the end of his mandate, Mr. Francis described his year at the helm of the UN’s main policy-making body as “an honour of a lifetime”.
“This has been a truly eventful session,” he said.
Sustainable development focus
The General Assembly comprises all 193 UN Member States, and the veteran diplomat from Trinidad and Tobago made ‘Peace, Prosperity, Progress and Sustainability’ the watchwords for his presidency.
It began with the adoption of a landmark political declaration at the SDG Summit last September, which the General Assembly endorsed in its first official action of the 78th session, “bringing urgency to our efforts to fulfil the SDGs”, he said.
Separate High-Level Meetings on three health-related issues – pandemic prevention, preparedness and response; boosting universal health coverage, and stamping out tuberculosis – also ended with political declarations.
“The High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development, meanwhile, led to a resounding consensus on the need to reform the global financial architecture – with a view to matching our Sustainable Development ambitions for 2030 with the necessary resources for implementation,” he added.
Inaugural Sustainability Week
The General Assembly also commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December with an informal plenary meeting and award ceremony for recipients of the UN Human Rights Prize.
Mr. Francis convened the Assembly’s first-ever Sustainability Week, held in April, focused on issues such as tourism, transport, infrastructure and energy, while a flagship event on debt sustainability highlighted the concerns of countries in special situations.
The Week was devoted to building momentum for the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States, held in May in Antigua and Barbuda, and the Summit of the Future, which begins next week in New York, and to catapulting global efforts to achieve sustainable development.
“Throughout, we were reminded of the central responsibility to build sustainable peace, the lynchpin of success on any other pillar of the UN’s work,” said Mr. Francis.