War set to dominate agenda at UN General Assembly meeting --[Reported by Umva mag]
UNITED NATIONS — World leaders are set to descend on the United Nations in the coming days to talk about a lengthy list of global challenges. But will they spur significant action on any of them? "We see out-of-control geopolitical divisions and runaway conflicts — not least in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and beyond," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters at a news conference ahead of the annual U.N. General Assembly meetings. Those three wars are set to dominate the agenda — both in leaders' speeches before the assembly and at numerous side meetings. Gaza Getting to a cease-fire in Gaza is even more urgent now that Israel has turned its attention to its northern border with Lebanon and looks determined to build on a significant blow to Hezbollah militants there. "We are at the start of a new phase in the war — it requires courage, determination and perseverance on our part," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told soldiers at the northern Ramat David Airbase on Wednesday. "It is critical that we operate in close cooperation between the [security] organizations, at all levels." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plan to address the General Assembly. "President Abbas will focus on the plight of his people — he will focus on the genocide campaign that's taking place, he will warn of the danger of this conflict exploding in the West Bank, and will warn also of the dangers of this conflict not reaching a cease-fire soon, in terms of its implications for the region and regional stability," Randa Slim, senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, told VOA. In March, a U.N. official said there were reasonable grounds to believe genocide had been committed in Gaza. Slim continued, "On the other hand, you are going to see the Israeli prime minister reminding people of the terror of October 7, casting the light on the fact that they are in a war of defense, and he is going to reemphasize the priorities of the war … which is the eradication of Hamas." In March, Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said there were "reasonable grounds" to think Israel has been committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Ukraine More than 2½ years after Russia invaded Ukraine, peace remains elusive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be in New York calling for international support at a critical time in the war, and as the conflict, in many capitals, has been superseded by the situation in Gaza. "I think Ukrainian diplomats themselves are a bit worried that their war is going down the agenda," Richard Gowan, U.N. director at International Crisis Group, told VOA. "But the reality is that the battle between Israel and Hamas has torn the U.N. apart over the last year, and that is going to be the number one focus for a lot of presidents and prime ministers." On Tuesday, Zelenskyy will address a high-level U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine, and the following day he will speak at the General Assembly. "I think he will emphasize the problem of Russian aggression, and that not only Europe, but the rest of the world, must remain on guard for Russia's attempt to assert its imperial powers," William Pomeranz, senior fellow at the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute told VOA. "And that the support of Ukraine is a crucial part of global security at the present time." On Thursday, Zelenskyy will head to Washington to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be coming to New York, but veteran Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 28. Sudan On the African continent, two rival generals in Sudan have been mired in a brutal 17-month struggle for power that has devastated the country. Violence, famine and disease are stalking the population, and 10 million people have fled their homes in search of safety. The war's current epicenter is the North Darfur capital of El Fasher, where the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have advanced on the city and the Sudanese Armed Forces inside El Fasher have been trying to repel them. "The lives of hundreds of thousands of people, including more than 700,000 internally displaced persons in and around El Fasher, are at immediate threat," acting U.N. humanitarian chief Joye Msuya told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday. The United States, Saudi Arabia, African Union and others have pursued a variety of peace initiatives for months. They have failed to silence the guns, but the U.S. has been successful in opening up some new routes for humanitarian relief into Sudan. On September 25, ministers will meet to discuss the humanitarian response at a session organized by officials from the U.N., U.S, European Union, African Union, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The head of the Sudanese Armed Forces and chairman of the Tr
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