NYC prepares to host the Millennium Development Goals review summit. This summit is to be the first in a whole series of forums that will take place in the framework of the current UN General Assembly session. 139 world leaders are to arrive in the USA. The most important part of each session, starting in September and lasting throughout the year, is the general political discussion at the highest level. This time such a discussion will take place in the period of September 23-30. The MDG summit kicks off on Monday 20th and closes on the 22nd, when the Problems in Biological Diversity Conference will be launched. The Disarmament Conference will start on September 24th.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gül, who will chair the first session of the UN Security Council on September 23rd, were among the first to arrive in NY. This session is expected to be attended by US, UK, French, Russian and Brazilian leaders.
The second session, addressing counter-terrorism issues, is scheduled for September 27th, and will be presided over by Mr Gül. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow will take part in the conference and will introduce several proposals on UN structural reform, leading to strengthening and broadening the role of the UN as a global mediator. His proposals will also touch upon global energy security, Central Asian and Caspian region stability, peace solutions for the Afghan conflict and the Trans-Afghanistan oil-pipeline construction, ecological security, etc.
The sharpest discussion is expected at the Disarmament Forum and following the general political debates, as almost all leaders who arrive in NY will voice their opinions there. Middle Eastern and Iranian issues are known to cause heated arguments and public rows. The tension of the situation is heightened by the expected address by the Iranian President to the General Assembly, against the background of new aggravation in the conflict between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Two UN nuclear inspectors were barred from entry to Iran, while the IAEA prepared a report stating that Iran continues to accumulate enriched uranium and does not grant its full cooperation to the Agency, despite the UN resolution.
Barack Obama is to address the conference and touch upon the issue of Iran before Ahmadinejad’s speech. It is evident that these two speeches will perform a sort of polemic on nuclear nonproliferation policy. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili will address the meeting immediately before Ahmadinejad.
36 addresses are scheduled for the first day of the discussions, with the speeches of the leaders of Kazakhstan, Ukraine, PRC, Lithuania and Iraq included. 192 countries will voice their opinion through their high representatives before September 30th, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, UK, Afghanistan, Estonia, Serbia, Armenia and the Palestinian Autonomy among them.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will speak for his country on the general political discussion of the UN General Assembly session. He will also address the MDG summit and the Disarmament Conference. The summit for the MDG review, organized by Ban Ki-moon, is being treated as the most important event of the 65th UN session. Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals is threatened by the global economic crisis of 2008-2009, although the final document of the summit, which has already been worked out, states that the international community can reach the Goals in time (i.e. before 2015) despite all economic differences. Ban Ki-moon mentioned, however, that some African countries are seriously falling behind schedule, so he offered to increase the donations of the international community to these states.
The agenda of the 65th General Assembly session, due to finish in September 2011, numbers over 100 items, including human rights protection, environmental protection, the fights against terrorism and drugs, humanitarian aid, economic growth support, international security and international law.
