News

The United Nations General Assembly officially opened on 17 September 2019, while the first day of the high-level General Debate will be on 24 September 2019. Over the course of the forthcoming week, five important high-level summits and meetings will be taking place, covering many of the key issues facing today’s world such as climate change, universal health coverage and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), the only one in which all 193 member nations have equal representation, and the main deliberative, policy-making, and representative organ of the UN. It plays a significant role in the process of standard-setting and the codification of international law. The President of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted for by representatives in the UNGA on an annual basis. This year’s President is Tijjani Muhammad-Bande of Nigeria who succeeds María Fernanda Espinosa.

GA observers will notice something quite particular that the President will be holding throughout the General Assembly: Thor’s gavel. This is the nickname for the President’s gavel, so named for Mr. Thor Thors, Iceland’s first Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who presented the gavel to the President of General Assembly in 1952. The gavel has been replaced twice: in October 1960, the President, Frederick Boland of Ireland, broke the first one when using it to silence Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev who was banging his shoe on the desk. In 2005 the second gavel was stolen. 

The General Assembly has also set some rather unusual records in its time; in 1960, President Castro of Cuba gave the longest speech on record, lasting 4 hours and 29 minutes, while the honour of the shortest speech went to Herbert Vere Evatt in 1948 who took a minute to thank the UNGA for electing him its President.

Prime Production is proud to be providing interpreting services to the UN and its subsidiary bodies throughout the General Assembly in Arabic, French, Portuguese and Spanish. We provide a high-quality, efficient service at competitive rates, making us the optimal solution for our clients.