World leaders are converging on New York this week for the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), a gathering that finds the institution at a crossroads, buffeted by historic levels of armed conflict, deepening global divisions, and the specter of humanitarian disaster. The high-level week, running from September 22 to September 29, 2025, marks not just an anniversary but a reckoning: can the UN live up to its founding promise of fostering peace, development, and human rights in a world seemingly more fragmented than ever?
President Donald Trump is set to deliver the first address of his second term to the General Assembly on Tuesday, September 23. Yet the American leader arrives in a markedly changed diplomatic landscape. According to ABC News, Trump will be largely isolated from more than half of the UN member nations and key allies due to his administration’s stance on the war in Gaza and sweeping cuts to U.S. foreign aid. Since returning to the White House, Trump has eliminated support for numerous UN agencies even as humanitarian crises, from Gaza to Sudan, have intensified.
This year’s UNGA comes as the world marks the organization’s 80th anniversary. The session’s theme, as articulated by Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s former foreign minister and the newly elected president of the 80th session, is “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights.” Baerbock’s call to "renew OUR United Nations" and "make us, the UN, fit for the future, fit for purpose" stands in stark contrast to the fractured reality facing the world today. As Anadolu Agency reports, the global geopolitical landscape is defined by profound divisions, with 59 active armed conflicts worldwide—the highest number since 1945.
Nowhere are these divisions more apparent than in the ongoing war in Gaza and the movement toward formal recognition of Palestinian statehood. On Monday, September 22, France and Saudi Arabia are hosting an international peace conference in New York in support of the two-state solution. France, along with Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Portugal, Malta, Britain, and San Marino, is expected to formally recognize Palestinian statehood at the meeting—joining more than 140 countries that have already done so. As ABC News notes, the U.S. will not participate in the conference and was one of only ten countries to vote against the General Assembly resolution backing the high-level gathering.
The move has drawn a sharp rebuke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, in a statement on Sunday, September 21, declared, "I have a clear message to those leaders who recognize a Palestinian state after the terrible massacre on October 7th, 2023: You are giving a huge reward to terrorism. And I have another message for you: It will not happen. A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River." Netanyahu’s remarks underscore the growing international isolation of both Israel and the Trump administration on this issue.
On Sunday, September 21, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia—three of the U.S. and Israel’s closest allies—formally recognized a Palestinian state. Trump, following an official state visit to the UK, voiced his disapproval of the move. U.S. officials have called the recognition "performative" and "symbolic," with Secretary of State Marco Rubio telling reporters, "We warned them that we thought that was counterproductive. We actually think it’s undermined negotiations, because it emboldened Hamas, and we think it undermines future prospects of peace in the region." Rubio further stated, "We thought it was unwise to do that, and I think you’re seeing that as a counterreaction."
The U.S. took additional steps to signal its disapproval, moving to deny and revoke visas for the Palestinian delegation, including President Mahmoud Abbas, ahead of Monday’s peace conference. Nevertheless, following a 145-5 vote in the General Assembly on Friday, September 19, Abbas will be permitted to address the gathering virtually. The U.S. and Israel voted against the motion, highlighting the deep rifts within the international community.
Meanwhile, the roster of attendees at this year’s UNGA speaks volumes about the shifting global order. As reported by Anadolu Agency, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will address the assembly, the first time a Syrian head of state has done so since 1967—a dramatic shift following the fall of the Ba’ath Party regime last December. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are all slated to speak, each bringing their own urgent agendas to the world stage. Notably, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are absent, sending lower-level delegations instead, a reflection of both strategic calculation and diplomatic tension.
Beyond the headline speeches, the week is packed with summits on climate, development, artificial intelligence, nuclear disarmament, and global health. Wednesday’s Climate Summit will focus on accelerating action in line with the Paris Agreement, while a high-level event will mark the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration on women’s rights. A Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance is also expected to launch, reflecting the UN’s ambition to address the risks and opportunities of emerging technologies.
Yet, as world leaders debate, the humanitarian crises outside the walls of the UN remain acute—and, for many, a test of the organization’s relevance. According to a TIME Magazine analysis, Sudan is facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in 2025, with 30 million people affected and less than 25% of needed foreign aid funded. Famine is a leading cause of mortality in children under five worldwide, with an estimated 45 million children affected in regions such as Sudan and Gaza this year. The Trump administration’s withdrawal from agencies like the World Health Organization, spurning of climate agreements, and slashing of aid funding have only exacerbated the challenges facing the UN’s humanitarian mission.
Despite the gridlock at the level of member states, civil society and international organizations are pushing forward with transformative interventions. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and partners have implemented cost-cutting, scalable solutions for acute malnutrition and vaccination in conflict zones since 2022. The IRC’s REACH project, in partnership with GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, has delivered over 20 million vaccine doses to hard-to-reach children in East Africa, demonstrating the potential of localized, community-driven approaches.
As the debates unfold in the cavernous General Assembly Hall, calls for reform of the Security Council and the broader UN system are growing louder. The paralysis in addressing the wars in Gaza and Ukraine has fueled impassioned demands for a more representative and effective global body. Pascal Lamy, former Director-General of the World Trade Organization, has advocated for "plurilateral" action, involving not just nation states but also civil society and the private sector, to break the logjam of political interests and deliver real solutions.
For one intense week in September, the eyes of the world are fixed on New York, watching to see whether an organization born out of the ashes of world war can chart a path forward amid an era of unprecedented crisis and complexity. The stakes—for peace, justice, and survival—have rarely been higher.
