World leaders to gather at 70th UN General Assembly
144 heads of state, government expected to attend annual speech marathon, says UN spokesman
NEW YORK
At least 144 heads of state and government are expected to attend the annual UN General Assembly, which will mark the 70th anniversary of the world body, a UN spokesman said Thursday.
Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York that 485 meetings, including side events, are being planned during the General Debate that begins Sept. 28.
About 9,000 delegates were accredited for the event as of Sept. 15, but that number is expected to rise by thousands, Dujarric said.
The marathon debate, which will start with Pope Francis' first-ever address to the General Assembly, will see attendance from a number of high-level speakers including U.S. President Barack Obama, Cuban leader Raul Castro, China's President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who returns to the occasion after a decade-long absence.
Turkey will be represented by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Dujarric said a record 154 heads of state and government are expected to attend the Sustainable Development Summit ahead of the general debate, from Sept. 25 - 27.
The summit will see the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which aims to eradicate extreme poverty by that year.
Nearly 3,000 journalists have been accredited for the period, Dujarric said.
On the sidelines, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will meet with foreign ministers of the permanent members of the Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S. – to seek an end to the Syrian conflict, which has claimed more than 250,000 lives since 2011.
