As the General Assembly concluded its eightieth session today, outgoing President Annalena Baerbock (Germany) reflected on a term marked by geopolitical divisions, institutional reform and a renewed defence of multilateralism.
Rebutting sceptics who describe the United Nations as irrelevant or failing, Ms. Baerbock urged delegates to “consider, for just one minute, the alternative… a world without the UN”. She pointed to the Organization’s work in education, peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance as evidence of its indispensable role. “Make no mistake, in spite of its shortcomings, not a single day, not a single country, would be better off without the UN,” she said.
Addressing the erosion of consensus within the Assembly, she acknowledged that only a few intergovernmental processes during the eightieth session concluded by consensus. However, she rejected the suggestion that this reflected a deeply polarized or fragmented Assembly. On the contrary, she said, numerous resolutions were adopted with fewer than a handful of opposing votes, demonstrating that geopolitical power struggles and attacks on the Organization had brought the vast majority of Member States closer together.
She recalled that over the course of the session, the Assembly convened 18 high-level meetings, held 116 formal plenary meetings and adopted 317 resolutions. Its work encompassed several defining challenges, including the global governance of artificial intelligence (AI), reform of the Organization through the UN80 Initiative, defence of the Charter of the United Nations and accelerated action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Decisive Action Changes the World
On the latter, the World Cup offered a powerful reminder: “Never give up before the game is over.” Some of the greatest matches are decided in the final minutes, when determination, teamwork and one decisive action can change everything. “The same is true” for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she said, with four years remaining. “Seventeen Goals, pursued with unity and determination, can change the world,” she emphasized.
Ms. Baerbock also highlighted the ongoing selection process for the next Secretary-General, recalling that the Organization begins, as the Charter does, with “We the Peoples”. The person selected, she stressed, would be more than the United Nations’ chief administrative officer. “She will be a guardian of its principles, a voice for its values and, to 8 billion people around the world, a symbol of what this institution represents.”
Concluding her tenure, Ms. Baerbock invoked the motto of her presidency and called for greater collective ambition: “Our peoples, everywhere, expect us to do better, because they need our world to be better. Better, together.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres praised Ms. Baerbock’s leadership and extraordinary efforts, describing her as a “formidable champion” of the Charter of the United Nations and the Organization’s three pillars.
He said the session had unfolded at a moment of profound global challenge, characterized by multiplying conflicts, deepening inequalities, hunger and poverty, record-breaking heat, the opportunities and risks posed by artificial intelligence, and a persistent financing gap hampering progress on the SDGs.
“The United Nations was created precisely for moments like this,” he said. By wielding the “timeless tools of diplomacy, debate and dialogue”, the eightieth Assembly had come together to develop solutions.
Before the session was declared closed, delegates also observed a moment of silence, following which Khalilur Rahman (Bangladesh), President-elect of the eighty-first session, took the oath of office.