The General debate of the seventy-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) opened on 24 September and ran until 30 September 2019. Leaders from a number of member states addressed the UNGA.
Organisation and subjects
The order of speakers is given first to member states, then observer states and supranational bodies. Any other observers entities will have a chance to speak at the end of the debate, if they so choose. Speakers will be put on the list in the order of their request, with special consideration for ministers and other government officials of similar or higher rank. According to the rules in place for the General Debate, the statements should be in of the United Nations official languages of Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish, and will be translated by the United Nations translators. Each speaker is requested to provide 20 advance copies of their statements to the conference officers to facilitate translation and to be presented at the podium. The theme for this year's debate was chosen by President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande as: "Galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion".
Speaking schedule
Since 1955, Brazil and the United States are the first and second countries to speak. Other countries follow according to a speaking schedule issued by the Secretariat.
The list of speakers is provided by both the daily UN Journal, while changes in order are also reflected by the UNGA General Debate website.
24 September
Morning session
- Secretary-General António Guterres (Report of the UN Secretary-General) - 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly - President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande (Opening statement) - President Jair Bolsonaro - President Donald J. Trump - President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi - President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - President Muhammadu Buhari - President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih - Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani - President Ueli Maurer - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović - President Evo Morales - King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein - President Moon Jae-in - President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré - President Emmanuel Macron (Scheduled) - President Sebastián Piñera - President Emmanuel Macron - Chairman of the Presidency Željko Komšić
Evening session
- President João Lourenço
- President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
- President Paul Kagame
- President Sauli Niinistö
- Prince Albert II
- President Mahamadou Issoufou
- King Willem-Alexander
- President Mauricio Macri
- President Egils Levits
- President Zuzana Čaputová
- President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
- President Andrzej Duda
- President Hilda Heine (Scheduled) - Regent Alois von und zu Liechtenstein - President Martín Vizcarra - President Macky Sall - Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte - Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe - Prime Minister Boris Johnson - Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani
Right of Reply
Member states have the option to reply to comments on the day (or even to the days prior), but are limited to 10 minutes for the first response and five minutes for the second response. All speeches are made from the floor, as opposed to the podium for the General Debate.
25 September
Morning session
- President Volodymyr Zelensky
- President Klaus Iohannis
- President Barham Salih
- King Mswati III (Scheduled) - President George Weah - President Hassan Rouhani (Scheduled) - President Michel Aoun - King Mswati III - President Hassan Rouhani - President Tommy Remengesau Jr. - President Salome Zourabichvili - President Faustin-Archange Touadera - President Iván Duque Márquez - President Danny Faure - President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani - President Kersti Kaljulaid - President Alpha Condé - President Edgar Lungu - President Idriss Déby - President Juan Orlando Hernández - Prime Minister Scott Morrison - Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama