On July 30 at 10:00 the Valdai Discussion Club will hold a meeting with Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the United Nations General Assembly for the 73rd Session.

       While the UN General Assembly ensures that all of the states in the organization are able to participate in its decision-making process, its resolutions are advisory in nature and are often said to have little effect on policymakers. Often there are questions about the effectiveness of the General Assembly, and there are proposals to include mechanisms in the documents that could ensure the implementation of the adopted resolutions.

       In 2017, UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced a large-scale reform of the UN, consisting of three components – changing the security architecture, modernising governance principles, and transforming the organizational structure, which is responsible for fulfilling development tasks. Within this reform, the revitalization of the UN General Assembly remains one of the main tasks of Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garcés.

       What is the atmosphere of discussions in the UNGA now? To what extent are member countries ready to be constructive? Or is it primarily a way for countries’ representatives to voice the ideas of the world’s governments? What are the most realistic options for the reform of the General Assembly and the UN Security Council? These and many other questions will be the subject of discussion.

       Speaker:

       Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the United Nations General Assembly for the 73rd Session.

       Moderator:

       Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

       Working languages: Russian, English.

       Information for the media! To attend, please fill out the accreditation form or call +7 926 930 77 63

       Information for participants! If you have any questions, please call +7 926 930 77 63