The U.N. General Assembly convenes today, but of the leaders of the five permanent members of the Security Council — the U.S., Russia, China, France and Britain — only President Biden will attend, in a time of growing global division.
This year’s gathering was planned with an eye to growing demands from the nations of the “global south,” an informal group of poorer nations whose crises have fallen by the wayside amid a global focus on the conflict in Ukraine.
Discussions have been scheduled on climate change, sovereign debt relief and ways to help struggling countries reach the U.N.’s development goals.
Analysts said that by skipping the annual gathering, world leaders risked weakening the U.N. when the institution was struggling to remain relevant.
The U.N.’s agencies are still at the forefront of providing humanitarian aid, but during the war in Ukraine and a series of military coups in Africa, the world body has been marginalized as a negotiator and mediator.
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Iraq’s prime minister, will address the U.N., hoping to persuade the world that he can finally solve his country’s problems of corruption and instability — and make it a reliable partner for the region.
