New York is preparing to receive around 130 heads of state and government for the high-level general debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, which begins on 22 September 2026. The agenda will bring together armed conflicts, humanitarian crises, climate and artificial intelligence, as the organisation faces political and financial pressures and questions over its ability to operate amid international divisions.
Session programme and dates for the general debate
The session's activities began on 8 September under the presidency of Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, and under the theme “Renewing trust and managing transformation: the United Nations in the service of all”. The general debate is its main event, running from Tuesday to Saturday, 22-26 September, before resuming on Monday 28 September after a day-long break.
The expected participation in what is considered the world's largest regular political gathering comes amid continuing wars and humanitarian crises, intensifying rivalry among major powers, growing fears of new pandemics and a rapidly accelerating technology race led by artificial intelligence, as well as political and financial pressures facing the international system.
The session's programme is not limited to leaders' speeches in the General Assembly hall. It also includes specialised meetings on development, climate, health, human rights and disarmament. Some events began before most leaders arrived, as part of a week-long programme of high-level meetings bringing political and security issues together with economic, social and technological matters.
On 18 September, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held an “SDG Moment” under the theme “Together, we can get there”. It was followed by a high-level event to discuss developments in the climate crisis and joint action to accelerate the energy transition, along with another event addressing the existential threats posed by rising sea levels.
Security and conflict issues on leaders' agenda
The session will also include events on pandemic prevention and preparedness, combating racism and xenophobia, and nuclear disarmament efforts. Political and security issues, however, are expected to take centre stage when the general debate opens, led by the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, alongside risks linked to the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
Before the meetings began, Guterres said the world had entered “an era of profound uncertainty”, amid wars, geopolitical divisions and declining trust in international institutions. He listed unregulated artificial intelligence, the climate crisis and widening inequality among the most serious global threats, alongside armed conflicts that are draining the international community's capacity.
When we look at the Russia-Ukraine war, and when we look at the Middle East as a whole, we find that the situation is getting worse day by day
The Middle East is expected to occupy a large part of leaders' speeches and sideline talks amid regional tensions and the repercussions of the US war against Iran, which an Agence France-Presse report described as likely to be one of the dominant issues during the high-level meeting week, along with its global repercussions.
The continuing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank will also feature prominently, alongside debate over the future of the Palestinian issue. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to make a brief visit after New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani acknowledged that he could not enforce the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump's administration has again refused to grant Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and several Palestinian officials entry visas to the United States, for the second consecutive year. At the same time, the Iranian delegation, led by Iranian President Pezeshkian, was granted restricted visas for its participating diplomats.
Ukraine war and Sudan crisis
The Russia-Ukraine war remains at the forefront of the political and security issues under discussion, amid continued international disagreement over ending the fighting and the terms of any possible political settlement. Before the General Assembly meetings, Guterres stressed that reaching a ceasefire and creating the conditions for a just peace remained among the United Nations' priorities.
The Sudan crisis is also expected to feature prominently in the deliberations after Guterres described the humanitarian situation in Sudan as devastating. The Secretary-General also warned that external intervention and arms flows were prolonging the conflict, as the war's humanitarian and security repercussions continue to grow.
The discussions will address, to varying degrees, other crises stretching from Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Haiti, the Sahel region and Myanmar. These issues place a series of simultaneous conflicts before leaders, each with local, regional and international dimensions, while the prospects for rapid solutions or broad agreements continue to diminish.
Artificial intelligence poses international governance challenges
Alongside the wars, artificial intelligence is expected to become one of the session's most prominent new agenda items, as calls grow for tighter rules governing its development. The calls follow a series of incidents and warnings from several industry leaders about the potential risks of rapid advances in intelligent systems' capabilities.
Several senior artificial intelligence industry leaders have called for the coordinated slowing of the technology's development, warning that it may be approaching a stage at which it can improve itself and escape human control. These concerns coincide with fierce competition between the United States and China for leadership in the field.
In response, Guterres called for stronger global coordination on the new technology, stressing that the world “cannot afford to enter a race to the bottom when it comes to AI safety standards”. The Secretary-General linked the risks of unregulated artificial intelligence to the climate and inequality crises, describing them as cross-border threats requiring international cooperation.
Guterres warned of a technology race moving faster than governments' ability to understand some of its risks and put the necessary safeguards in place. The UN Security Council is due to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the issue, alongside a UN-sponsored global dialogue on artificial intelligence governance.
The dialogue aims to build international understandings on safety, accountability and human oversight, as well as a fairer distribution of the technology's benefits. The issue poses an additional challenge for the organisation because of differing economic and security interests among states and the widening gap between the pace of innovation and legislative and regulatory processes.
Climate continues to hold a prominent place on the meeting's programme, as unprecedented temperatures are recorded around the world and extreme weather events increase. Guterres, as he has throughout his tenure, continues to press for stronger global action to address climate change and limit its consequences.
The Secretary-General will hold a meeting on “Climate action and a just transition”, followed by a day devoted to discussing rising sea levels, which pose an existential threat to low-lying island states. The issue places financing, energy and climate adaptation before rich and developing countries in a single discussion.
The climate and environmental impacts linked to artificial intelligence are also expected to receive attention during UN meetings and accompanying Climate Week events in New York. At the same time, the technology's potential benefits will be examined as a tool that could help accelerate change, at an annual gathering attended by companies, academics and activists.
The accumulation of crises is again raising questions about the multilateral system's ability to deal with an increasingly divided world. The Security Council often finds itself constrained by disagreements among major powers and the use of vetoes, while calls grow to reform institutions established after the Second World War so they reflect shifting balances of power and the rise of new states and economies.
The Security Council, by contrast, is the most powerful organ. It has 15 members, including five permanent members with veto power, and bears primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. The disparity between the General Assembly's broad representation and the Security Council's composition is a central focus of continuing calls for reform.
General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman acknowledged widespread belief that trust in the United Nations is declining, attributing it to the continuation of major crises and conflicts without solutions and to many people's lack of awareness of the organisation's work in relief, development and addressing climate change.
Khalilur Rahman said the organisation carries out much humanitarian work and many efforts that do not make the news, limiting public awareness of the scale of its activities, in his view. The session's theme is linked to an effort to restore that trust, amid criticism of the effectiveness of international institutions and their ability to deliver tangible results.
The meetings coincide with the continuing UN reform project, which addresses the organisation's efficiency and structures and how it carries out its mandates. The General Assembly president called on member states to pay their financial contributions in full and on time, linking the restoration of trust to the organisation's ability to reform itself and turn its decisions into practical results.
The session is also taking place as the international system shaped after the Second World War faces mounting pressure, while the United Nations tries to preserve its role and influence. This comes amid Trump's criticism of the organisation, reduced US contributions and Washington's withdrawal from dozens of UN bodies.
Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group said that, more than a year after Trump's return to the White House, “we no longer say the UN is in freefall, but we say it is stuck in an open-ended crisis”. He added: “The UN may not be in as critical a state as it was last year, but it looks as if it will remain stuck in the intensive care unit for serious injuries for the foreseeable future.”
The current session carries an additional significance because it is the last General Assembly session to open during Guterres's second and final term, which ends on 31 December 2026. The process of selecting the next Secretary-General has begun, with the successor due to take office at the start of 2027, amid expectations of manoeuvring and discussions at the organisation over its future leadership.
A successor to Guterres is being sought as the organisation faces sharp political divisions, financial crises and a budget shortfall. Although expectations do not point to a major breakthrough during the meetings, the five veto-wielding countries involved in the selection process—the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France—may use the presence of their leaders and delegations in New York to try to reach an agreement.
Guterres's second term lasted five years and was marked by escalating global conflicts, the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, widening social inequality and international polarisation. A European diplomat said of the process of choosing the new Secretary-General that it “has not been very successful so far”, adding that “there are no signs of consensus on the horizon”.
The 81st session therefore brings together issues that are difficult to separate, from conflicts and humanitarian crises to climate change, economic gaps and health and technological risks. As national leaders present their countries' priorities to the General Assembly, the meetings will put the ability of the 193 member states to restore joint action to a new test, alongside the organisation's reform process and the selection of its next leadership.
