The 73rd General Assembly session got off to a fast start on Monday morning with the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit. In his statement, Secretary-General António Guterres said, “We need to face the forces that threaten us with the wisdom, courage and fortitude that Nelson Mandela embodied.”
With the help of K-pop band BTS and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lilly Singh, the Secretary-General also launched the UN’s new Youth Strategy (#Youth2030) on Monday. “I want the UN to become a leader in working with young people: in understanding their needs, in helping to put their ideas into action, in ensuring their views inform our processes,” the Secretary-General said.
VIP Social Media Studio
The VIP Social Media Studio was also a bustling hub of activity throughout the day, with dozens of world leaders stopping by to go Live on Facebook. Check out their conversations:
Josep Borrell, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain
Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Special Representative on the Central African Republic
Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway
Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General
Filipo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees
María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73rd Session of the General Assembly
Related and side events:
The UN put a global spotlight on the world-wide drug problem during a high-level event on Monday
Yemen: amid major roadblocks, an ‘unprecedented’ response to an unprecedented tragedy
More information
- Check out this album, for more behind-the-scenes pictures of all the action
- Official General Assembly website
- Get the latest highlights fromUN News
- UN Webcast: Live coverage of meetings
- You can also follow the @UN and @UN_Spokespersonon Twitter
- And, find here a list of UN accounts on social media