After three days of high octane, big name speeches, the fourth day of the General Debate comes as a bit of a time to take a breath. Today’s line-up is short on Heads of State, but there are still plenty of Heads of Government and many voices that you won’t get much opportunity to hear outside of the General Assembly.
Indeed, the morning’s session is primarily populated by Small Island Nations of the Pacific and the Caribbean. While not necessarily a voting bloc, you can expect a great number of speeches on climate change and the risk their states face from rising seas from each of these speakers.
The first few speakers shouldn’t be surprised if the GA Hall seems a little less full than normal. Delegates were present until 11:30 p.m. last night, trading speeches under the Right of Reply to defend their national honor, so the slightly later start of this morning’s session must feel like a small blessing.
To watch the debate as it happens, the UN will be livestreaming the speeches here; session opens at 10:00 AM EDT. As before, below is a partially annotated list of the speaking order for the morning and afternoon sessions.
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10:00 15th plenary meeting General Assembly Hall
1. Continuation of the general debate [item 8]
Address by His Excellency Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Address by His Excellency Kenny Davis Anthony, Prime Minister, Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs, Planning and Social Security of Saint Lucia
Address by His Excellency Lyonchoen Jigmi Yoezer Thinley, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan
[Odd as it may seem for a country that promotes a Happiness Index, Bhutan is seeking its first term on the U.N. Security Council at this year’s session. Bhutan, Cambodia, and the Republic of Korea are all running for one vacant seat on the Council.]
Address by His Excellency Lord Tu’ivakano, Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Defence, Information and Communication of the Kingdom of Tonga
Address by Her Excellency Antonella Mularoni, Prime Minister of the Republic of San Marino
Address by His Excellency Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Independent State of Samoa
Address by His Excellency Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
Address by His Excellency Meltek Sato Kilman Livtunvanu, Prime Minister of the Republic of Vanuatu
Germany
[Germany holds the rotating Presidency of the Security Council this month and will likely spend a good portion of its time explaining the ways it has helped advance peace and security in its time on the Council.]
Nepal
Malta
Netherlands
Chile
United Republic of Tanzania
Burkina Faso
Turkey
[Turkey is often viewed as a rising power in the region and one of the point countries on the crisis in Syria. Be sure to listen in on this speech in the event new policies regarding refugees or intervention happen to be included.]
BREAK
15:00
16th plenary meeting General Assembly Hall
1. Continuation of the general debate [item 8]
Address by His Excellency Zoran Milanović, Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia
2. Address by His Excellency Raimundo Pereira, Interim President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau
[Interim President Pereira shouldn’t expect a warm welcome in New York. Just ahead of a second round of voting for President in May of this year, the military of Guinea-Bissau took control of the country in a coup. This is sadly frequent as, amazingly, no President has ever completed a full term.]
3. Continuation of the general debate [item 8]
Address by His Excellency Patrice Emery Trovoada, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe
Address by His Excellency Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
[His appearance at the General Assembly will mark the first appearance on a global stage of Prime Minister Desalegn since the death of Melas Zenawi in August.]
Address by His Royal Highness, Prince Moulay Rachid of the Kingdom of Morocco
Ireland
Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Austria
Nicaragua
Russian Federation
[In an afternoon of somewhat staid speakers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is sure to break up any monotony. Full of wit and sarcasm at times, Lavrov is a former U.N. Ambassador himself and always worth giving a listen.]
Republic of Korea
Saudi Arabia
Sweden
United Arab Emirates
Monaco
Uzbekistan
Azerbaijan
[In its time at the rostrum, expect to hear an earful about the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between the Azeris and Armenians. The issue recently came back into the headlines following the controversial pardon and promotion of a convicted murder by the Azeri government.]
Fiji
Andorra
Papua New Guinea
As ever, 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.