The debate of the UN General Assembly is starting today in New York with a speech by António Guterres, the last that the former Portuguese Prime Minister will do at this annual event as leader of the United Nations.
© Mike Segar/Reuters
22/09/2026
by
Lusa
The UN Secretary-General's speech is scheduled for 9 a.m. (local time, 2 p.m. in Lisbon) and will take place in a complex world context, marked by geopolitical tensions and growing conflicts, pressure on the financing of development and the organization itself, rapid technological changes and global warming, factors that continue to test the international system.
Guterres took over the leadership of the UN in January 2017, having been re-elected to a second term of five years, which ends at the end of this year.
The High Level Debate, which starts today and ends on 28th, is expected to meet in New York 71 Heads of State, 45 Heads of Government and 11 Vice-Presidents, explained on Monday the spokesman for Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric.
Fifty ministers and an heir prince will also speak in the debate.
After Guterres, the first leaders to speak will be President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of the United States, Donald Trump, King Abdullah II of Jordan and President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Brazil has opened the General Debate since 1955, a position that it conquered because, in the first years after the creation of the world organ, it was prepared to speak first, when other countries were more reluctant.
As hosts of the UN headquarters in New York, the United States is the second country to address the General Assembly.
After this fixed provision attributed to Brasilia and Washington, the order of speech of the other Member States is based on the level of representation, preference and other criteria, such as geographical balance.
According to the provisional calendar provided by the UN, Portugal will be represented by the head of government, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
Montenegro should speak on the afternoon of Thursday, the third day of debate.
Also among the leaders expected are the Presidents of Ukraine and Iran, Volodymyr Zelensky and Masoud Pezeshkian, respectively, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez.
The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, must speak by video conference after Donald Trump's government denied him a visa to enter the country.
Throughout the debate, leaders are expected to make statements outlining their positions and priorities in the context of the complex and interconnected global challenges.
Leaders are given a voluntary time limit of 15 minutes for each speech.
In the margins of the debate, many other meetings and events are scheduled.
1,553 bilateral meetings are scheduled between delegation representatives, in addition to those that António Guterres plans to hold with most leaders during the week.
The occasion will also serve for some long-awaited meetings, such as the one scheduled between Trump and Rodríguez, less than a year after the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, arrested New York since January.
The UN headquarters in New York will host at least 166 events during what is considered the great forum of world diplomacy.
The conflict in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine and concerns about the development of Artificial Intelligence will be among the main themes of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.