UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Almost everyone is on stage, and all the men and only 20 women are just players. That’s what a less inspired Shakespeare might have written about this year’s UN General Assembly leaders’ meeting, which ended Tuesday.
For six days, a cavalcade of world leaders addressed the United Nations General Assembly against a backdrop of mottled green and, more figuratively, diplomatic conflicts, reignited tensions and a litany of global crises.
WATCH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 2023 United Nations General Assembly
Today, the speeches have been delivered, the right of reply has been duly exercised, and the world stage – or at least its spotlight – has been effectively dismantled until next year, although the work of the United Nations continues all year.
Too many things happened to count at the United Nations last week. Nevertheless, we tried.
Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly: 78
September marks the opening of the 78th session, chaired by Dennis Francis of Trinidad and Tobago. Each session lasts one year.
Days of general debate: 6
As in previous years, the general debate lasted six days, but ended a day later than usual. From Tuesday September 19 to Tuesday September 20, the speeches were interrupted on Sunday – as is usual – and Monday, to mark Yom Kippur.
Speakers: 194
This count includes UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who opened the proceedings, and Francis, who delivered the opening and closing speeches (he is counted only once). It also includes the three permanent observers – Palestine, the Holy See and the European Union – who are invited to address the General Assembly alongside the 193 UN member states.
But wait, you might ask after some basic math: shouldn’t there be 198 speakers? Who was missing?
Absences: 4
Afghanistan, Myanmar, Niger and Madagascar were each absent from the podium. This is the third year in a row that Afghanistan and Myanmar have remained silent, following the respective takeover of power by the Taliban and the military junta, and the ensuing dispute over accreditation. Niger also suffered a coup this year and its junta has accused Guterres of trying to appease France and its allies by denying his favored envoy the chance to speak.
As for Madagascar, its absence is less obvious, especially after the meeting between the country’s foreign minister and Guterres on Monday. A spokesperson for the president of the General Assembly told The Associated Press that Madagascar – which was on a provisional list of speakers – chose not to speak, but no reason was given. . The email address and phone numbers listed for Madagascar’s mission to the U.N. were not operational and the AP could not immediately reach the government for additional comment.
First speech: Brazil
Last speech: Morocco
Brazil spoke first, as is tradition. Morocco spoke last, which is not a tradition (last year this place went to Nauru). The order of speakers is usually determined by who a country sends, their preferences, availability, and geography. Which brings us to…
Speaker type
- Presidents: 85
- Prime ministers: 41
- Kings: 2
- Princes: 2
- Emirs: 1
- Ministers, in a way: 47
- Vice-presidents: 6
- Transitional or interim leaders: 2
- Permanent representatives: 6
There were more presidents in New York this year than last, but fewer prime ministers. Overall, the United Nations presented the participation as a return to form after the coronavirus pandemic. At a briefing on Tuesday, the UN revealed that it had issued General Assembly passes to more than 10,800 delegates (up from 6,755 last year) and 2,255 media representatives (up from 1,141). It also issued more than three times as many special event tickets this year, around 40,000 (up from 12,000 last year).
“I think it shows that this is a place where we all need to come and discuss these global issues,” Guterres spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.
The speaker count delineates the heads of government, heads of state, ministers and other representatives who have spoken. Five members of the royal family took to the rostrum: the kings of Jordan and Eswatini, the emir of Qatar, the prince of Monaco and a prince from Saudi Arabia, who is also that country’s foreign minister (the list above only counts him in the princes column).
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Holy See secretary for relations with states, is the Vatican’s foreign minister and is included in the ministerial tally.
General Abdel-Fattah Burhan is the leader of Sudan’s transition and returned to the podium for the second year. Pakistan’s Acting Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has spoken on behalf of Pakistan, ahead of elections scheduled for early next year.
Gender of speakers
The number of women speaking at the General Assembly has been historically low: in 2021, there were 18, last year, 22. The lack of representation of women was noted by several speakers, including the South President. African Cyril Ramaphosa.
“Where are the women of the world?” » he asked on the first day of the general debate.
Only 10 of the women who spoke were actually heads of state or government.
In his opening speech at the second Women Leaders’ Platform, Francis noted that the U.N. has never had a female secretary general (something Gloria Steinem told the AP last week she wanted to change). and that only four women have held this position. president of the General Assembly.
Languages used to deliver speeches: 23
- English: 107
- French: 21
- Spanish: 20
- Arabic: 18
- Portuguese: 8
- Korean: 2
- Russian: 2
Although some speeches included touches of another language (or in the case of Luxembourg and Canada, a healthy dose of French), we counted on the basis of most of the speech.
Once again, the only official UN language in which a single speech was delivered was Chinese. Other languages deployed only once: Bengali, Catalan, Croatian, Farsi, Finnish, German, Italian, Japanese, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Mongolian, Tajik, Turkish, Uzbek, Vietnamese. The UN has its own language, slipped into many addresses.
Average length of speech: approximately 19 minutes
Although the first day of speeches was particularly long – almost every speech that day blatantly violated the highly recommended 15-minute limit – it ultimately fell in line with last year’s average. If you were inclined to watch each speech consecutively, it would take approximately 3,728 minutes, or 2 and a half days.
Shortest speech: Libya, approximately 7 minutes and 10 seconds
Fathallah al-Zani, Libya’s youth minister and acting foreign minister, told the United Nations that his country was “overwhelmed with sadness” after devastating floods that killed thousands of people. Libya has a divided government; al-Zani belongs to the government in Tripoli, to the west.
Longest speech: Burkina Faso, approximately 37 minutes and 46 seconds
Bassolma Bazie, Minister of State of Burkina Faso, delivered a polemic that, among other topics, addressed the conflict in the Sahel, discussed imperialism and trade, and condemned homosexuality.
Associated Press journalists Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria, Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Greece, contributed to this report.