Challenges in New York

NEW YORK City is in the midst of the flurry of international diplomatic activity it experiences every year at this time, where the General Assembly is inaugurating its 72nd session .

The UN leadership hopes to dedicate this session to giving a tangible boost to resolving many of the world’s problems. There are two primary concerns most related to the goal, the first being conflict prevention.

There are many conflicts and few solutions. Therefore, the chief role of the international community is to do its utmost to forestall the outbreak of further conflicts.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi presented Egypt’s vision to the General Assembly. Covering the array of concerns and issues facing the international community, he addressed how to bolster international peace and stability and, in this context, presented Egypt’s positions on regional issues in the Middle East and the fight against terrorism in particular.

Egypt is the seventh largest contributor to UN peacekeeping forces.

The Middle East occupied a large share of attention in New York.

This year occasioned the first appearance of US President Donald Trump at the General Assembly. Trump attended high-level meetings focusing on the crisis between the quartet of Arab countries (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain) and Qatar.

North Korea, of course, was the subject of intensive talks in light of Pyongyang’s escalation and Washington’s threat to respond to its missile tests.

The plight of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar loomed to the fore as a priority on the General Assembly agenda after more than 300 000 were forced to flee to Bangladesh.