WFWP International: 76th Session Of The United Nations General Assembly

The 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on Tuesday, 14 September, 2021, where more than 100 heads of state gathered for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic. This opening of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly was a particularly significant one, as the world faces an overabundance of unprecedented issues.

During his address to the General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres painted a vivid picture of the current state of affairs: “We face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetime.” The COVID-19 crisis has supersized glaring inequalities that have already been strikingly present within communities across the globe, the climate crisis is plummeting the planet, and regions that have known relative peace are now finding themselves in conflict. Extreme surges of mistrust and misinformation have completely polarized and paralyzed entire societies, and human rights are repeatedly threatened.

Guterres addressed how paramount it is for the UN to continue to build itself on its common agendas of the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “To seek a pathway to a better world,” Guterres states, “we must first breach great divides.” Guterres continued by highlighting how “failure to deliver creates space for some of the darkest impulses of humanity.”

United States President Joe Biden, appearing at the UN for the first time during his presidency, also emphasized the various crises our global community currently faces. Biden addressed the General Assembly to stress the core areas of focus for the United States. The climate crisis, ending the pandemic, managing the shifts in global power dynamics, and the threat of terrorism are some of the key major issues Biden shed light on as areas of import for his administration’s global agenda.

In response to the pandemic, Biden detailed the mourning of more than 4.5 million people: “Our shared grief is a poignant reminder that our collective future will hinge on our ability to recognize our common humanity and to act together.” With the U.S. also reaching a critical turning point with the end of military operations in Afghanistan just this past month, marking an end to its longest war, Biden believes this sets the table for his administration to shift its focus to “relentless diplomacy” at a time where the world faces multiple unprecedented crises at once.

The importance of bridging divides, promoting peace and ending conflicts, promoting gender equality, and tackling the generational divide by giving young people a “seat at the table” were key themes of UNGA 76, with world leaders of all regions coming together to realize the undeniable fact that a sense of global cooperation is paramount in tackling any crisis.

The Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) ultimately aims to uplift and empower women as peacebuilders and leaders in the home, in their communities, nations and the world. Through first embracing our identities as daughters, sisters, wives and especially mothers, we begin to see the world and it’s challenges through these eyes and cannot stand idle when there is a member of the family who is suffering. Such women, who prioritize the needs of her community before herself, become the natural catalyst for much-needed healing, unity and harmony and are the bedrock that transforms people, communities and negotiation tables, ultimately creating a future of well-being and peace for entire generations to come.