The High-Level week of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is held annually in September at the U.N. headquarters in York City. It brings together world leaders and representatives from member states to tackle international issues. This year’s 79th session focused on “acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development, and human dignity for present and future generations” (UN.org).
The High-Level Week included some of the organization’s most important meetings to resolve pressing global issues, advance the 2023 agenda, and take action towards the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A major event was the first-of-its-kind Summit of the Future, a high-level initiative aimed at finding multilateral solutions to foster better global cooperation among countries.
September 21, 2024, was the Summit of the Future Action Day program at United Nations Headquarters. It consisted of three sessions, each highlighting one of three areas: a sustainable, digital, or peaceful future for all. Since these sessions ran simultaneously, participants attended the session of most interest to them.
I attended at least two sessions at each meeting. Following the summit’s opening ceremony, I participated in the Digital Future for All meeting. The purpose of this session was to lay the groundwork for how digital technologies may promote an online environment where everyone can prosper and build a more inclusive future.
The Secretary-General’s Envoy in Technology, Amandeep Sing Gill, stated that “our future is digital, and we’ve worked to ensure it’s open, safe, and secure.” This meeting highlighted the Digital Global Compact, one of the outcome documents included as an annex to the Pact of the Future.
Following this session, I attended A Peaceful Future for All. This session stood out to me because it focused on the need for intergenerational voices in sustaining women’s and girls’ peace efforts. The goal of this meeting’s second session was to dismantle the structures of patriarchal dominance and how it has negatively impacted the lives of women. This session focused primarily on raising awareness for Afghani women and how young female voices can encourage member nations to begin integrating more female voices in political decision-making.
I finished my day by attending the Sustainable Future for All meeting. The final two sessions centered on multi-stakeholder partnerships and techniques for redesigning the financial system to enable it to expedite the 2030 agenda and SDG goals. “When we talk – none of us would have a future without the other – thus looking at the global financial architecture is important,” said Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning and Economic Development of Egypt.
Due to the numerous events being held on Saturday, I was unable to attend other activities happening simultaneously, such as various side events and the U.N.’s media booth. Overall, I was grateful to have attended the Summit of the Future Action Day and appreciated hearing about the U.N.’s desire to revise its institutional framework to better address the international demands of the 21st century.
