What to expect at this year's UN General Assembly

The skies may be blue, but it will be under a dark cloud that world leaders gather in New York this week, for the annual United Nations General Assembly.

With wars raging in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and elsewhere, and with international cooperation at an historic low, the mood here is certainly sombre.

"We have to accept that this high-level week is taking place after one of the most dispiriting years in the UN's recent history," said Richard Gowan, UN Director of the Crisis Group, a New York-based think tank.

"Obviously, there has been a sense of turbulence around the organisation ever since Russia's all-out aggression against Ukraine," Mr Gowan said, "but the months following the 7 October attack really plunged the organisation into a deep sense of confusion and crisis."

That feeling can only get worse if countries fail to agree on the 'Summit of the Future' pacts, due to be signed today.

In the face of growing global conflict as well as spiralling climate and debt crises, the summit is UN Secretary General António Guterres’ bid to overhaul the multilateral system which, he said, is "not fit for purpose".

Last week, Mr Guterres called on member states to show a "spirit of compromise".

However that seemed in short supply as diplomats continued to wrangle over wording at the eleventh hour.

And once the summit wraps up on Monday, there’s still a long week ahead as some 150 heads of state and government descend on New York to deliver their national address to the General Assembly.

But while that’s the main event, the real work will go on in small consultation rooms at UN headquarters and the hundreds of side events in venues across the city.

For delegates, it’s an opportunity to bring their campaign, whether that’s on climate, women’s rights, food or education to the attention of world leaders.

For locals, UN General Assembly week means gridlock.

Who is coming?

This will be US President Joe Biden’s final UN General Assembly.

In his address, the US president is likely to reflect on his commitment to global cooperation through the United Nations.

Mr Biden did improve US engagement with the organisation, rejoining agencies like UNESCO and the Human Rights Council that his predecessor - and possible successor - former president Donald Trump had quit.

However Mr Biden’s swansong is likely be overshadowed by heavy criticism of his government's support for Israel’s bombing of Gaza.

The reception he is due to receive in the General Assembly Hall is one to watch.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu was also due to be here, but his office announced before the weekend that the trip would be delayed, due to the escalating conflict in the region.

On Friday, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon cast doubt on his leader’s arrival.

"He will not arrive on Tuesday as scheduled," he said, "he will follow what is happening in Israel and will know when he’s coming and if he’s coming."

If Mr Netanyahu does show, he will be greeted with a chilly atmosphere according to diplomats, not only from inside the United Nations but on the streets of New York, where protests are expected.

At last year’s UN General Assembly, the Israeli leader held up a map of what he called the "New Middle East" which did not show any Palestinian territories.

Last week, the General Assembly adopted a resolution demanding that Israel end its "unlawful presence" in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, is due to address the General Assembly later next week.

Other world leaders due to land in New York include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is likely to spend his time in bi-lateral meetings trying to secure more military aid for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian leader is also reported to have a peace plan to put forward.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be here - he’s careful where he travels now that there’s an international warrant out for his arrest.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is a familiar figure at the United Nations, will deputise.

The European Union is sending Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Josep Borrell, high representative for foreign affairs.

President Michael D. Higgins will be here to address the Summit of the Future this morning, on global poverty, hunger and the world's desensitization to daily loss of life.

And there are some first timers this year - including Taoiseach Simon Harris and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Masoud Pezeshkian, the new President of Iran, which backs armed groups Hezbollah and Hamas will be at the General Assembly and he will also be expecting protestors.

New faces, old problems

United Nations officials and diplomats are known for their optimism. However, even those with the sunniest dispositions are feeling glum ahead of the 79th session of the General Assembly as intractable global conflicts dominate proceedings.

It’s just a few weeks before the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the beginning of Israel’s retaliatory bombardment of Gaza.

Over the past eleven months, resolution to the conflict has eluded UN diplomats and the risk of a wider regional war has only grown.

Earlier this week, Rosemary Di Carlo, the UN chief for peacebuilding and political affairs told an emergency session of the security council that we risk seeing a "conflagration that could dwarf even the devastation and suffering witnessed so far."

The UN Secretary-General has also expressed his "grave alarm" over reports of a full-scale assault on the west Sudanese city of El Fasher, by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It’s an attack that human rights groups and UN experts have been warning about for months, fearing mass atrocities on the civilian population sheltering there.

Ongoing crises in Haiti, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Yemen are also on the agenda, in what promises to be a very tense week at the United Nations.

Read more about the conflicts and crises from around the world