Though the 67th Session of the UN General Assembly officially opened last week, when most people think of the annual UNGA it’s this week that comes to mind. What is known as “The General Debate” starts on Tuesday. This is the time when Heads of State and Government from around the world converge on Turtle Bay to speak their minds.
In theory, the speeches are about the topic handed down by the President of the GA, this year’s being “Adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations by peaceful means”. In actuality, it’s a rarity that the President gavel down a speech for not being germane. Some of the most memorable moments at the General Assembly have come from leaders going off-script and its doubtful this year will be an exception.
If you’re looking to watch the debate as it happens, the UN will be livestreaming the speeches here. You’ll want to get up early, since the session opens at 9:00 AM EDT. On the off chance that you won’t want to watch the entire proceedings, below is a partially annotated list of the speaking order for the morning and afternoon sessions.
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Tuesday, September 25, 2012
09:00 6th plenary meeting General Assembly Hall
1. Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization: presentation by the Secretary-General of his annual report (A/67/1) [item 106]
2. Opening of the general debate [item 8]
3. Address by Her Excellency Dilma Rousseff, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil
[Brazil always speaks first at the UN General Assembly. Always. This goes all the way back to 1947, a tradition that has never been broken.]
4. Address by His Excellency Barack Obama, President of the United States of America
[If you want to catch the American President at the UN, you’d better watch this speech. President Obama isn’t taking any bilateral meetings this week, instead leaving them to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.]
5. Address by His Excellency Tomislav Nikolić, President of the Republic of Serbia
[This year’s President of the General Assembly, Vuk Jeremić, hails from Serbia, netting them a nice early speaking slot.]
6. Address by His Excellency Boni Yayi, President of the Republic of Benin
7. Address by His Excellency Sauli Niinistö, President of the Republic of Finland
[Finland is one of three states up for a seat on the UN Security Council’s next term. They’re hoping to beat out both Australia and Luxembourg for the spot.]
8. Address by His Excellency Demetris Christofias, President of the Republic of Cyprus
9. Address by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar
[Last year, Qatar was in the middle of the Arab Spring movement and a Qatari diplomat was the President of the General Assembly. Be sure to compare the tone and substance of this year’s speech with last year’s.]
10. Address by His Excellency Rosen Plevneliev, President of the Republic of Bulgaria
11. Address by His Excellency Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Republic of Indonesia
12. Address by His Excellency Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia
13. Address by His Excellency Danilo Medina Sánchez, President of the Dominican Republic
14. Address by His Excellency François Hollande, President of the French Republic
[States are always listed by their full ‘official’ names on the Speakers List at the United Nations, one of the few times France is referred to as the French Republic]
15. Address by Her Excellency Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania
16. Address by His Excellency Porfirio Lobo Sosa, President of the Republic of Honduras
17. Address by His Excellency Hifikepunye Pohamba, President of the Republic of Namibia
Break
15:00 7th plenary meeting General Assembly Hall
1. Address by His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda
[Rwanda and the United Nations aren’t currently on the best of terms, following a report detailing Rwandan support for the M23 militia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It will be interesting to hear what President Kagame has to say on the matter, if anything.]
2. Address by Her Excellency Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, President of the Swiss Confederation
3. Address by Her Excellency Cristina Fernández, President of the Argentine Republic
4. Address by His Excellency Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal
5. Address by His Excellency Jacob Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa
6. Address by His Excellency Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal, President of the Republic of Panama
7. Address by His Majesty King Abdullah II Bin Al Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
[King Abdullah’s wife, Queen Rania, has been in New York City for days now, taking part in the Clinton Global Initiative.]
8. Address by His Excellency János Áder, President of Hungary
9. Address by His Excellency Asif Ali Zardari, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
10. Address by His Excellency Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena, President of the Republic of El Salvador
11. Address by His Excellency Joseph Kabila Kabange, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
[See: Rwanda]
12. Address by His Excellency Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of the Gabonese Republic
13. Address by His Excellency Ivan Gašparovič, President of the Slovak Republic
14. Address by His Excellency Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
15 Address by His Excellency Christopher Jorebon Loeak, President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands
16. Address by His Excellency Sprent Arumogo Dabwido, President of the Republic of Nauru
17. Address by His Excellency Váklav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic
18. Address by His Excellency Hâmid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
19. Continuation of the general debate [item 8]
Address by His Excellency Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, Vice-President of the Republic of Uganda
[Wondering why these speakers are listed differently? Speaking order is decided first based on who submit their speaking request first, then diplomatic protocol. At the GA, it goes Heads of States, followed by Vice-Presidents, followed by Heads of Government, then Foreign Ministers]
Address by His Excellency Mariano Rajoy Brey, President of the Government of the Kingdom of Spain
Address by His Excellency Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
Speeches are each supposed to run about 15 minutes each. That’s rarely the case, so we’ll see how closely tomorrow’s speeches hew to this Speakers List. Any speakers in the afternoon that don’t make it to the podium will continue on after 6 p.m. Should you happen to miss a few, the full speeches will be posted here following the conclusion of the session.