2nd LD Writethru: UN General Assembly kicks off 71st session

The UN General Assembly kicked off its 71st session here on Tuesday with a focus on joint global efforts to carry out the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a blueprint for ending poverty and hunger, advancing equality, and protecting the environment for the years leading up to 2030.

The new annual session was declared open by Peter Thomson, president of the 71st session of the General Assembly. Thomson, the UN ambassador of Fiji, was elected to the current post by the UN General Assembly in June.

Minutes before the opening of the new annual session, Thomson raised his right hand with a copy of the UN Charter in it and took the oath of office -- the first General Assembly president to do so in the history of the United Nations.

The oath-taking came just hours after the General Assembly adopted a Code of Ethics for the office in the shadow of a bribery scandal involving one of former General Assembly presidents, John Ashe, the UN ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda.

Ashe, president of the 68th General Assembly session from September 2013 to September 2014, was accused by federal prosecutors of accepting more than 1 million U.S. dollars in bribes, turning his position into a "platform for profit." He pleaded innocent.

The former General Assembly president, 61, was found dead in June in his home in Dobbs Ferry in the U.S. state of New York, following an accident while lifting a barbell during an exercise session, U.S. authorities said.

"As president of the Assembly, I will dedicate myself to facilitation of the transition process," Thomson said.

"Throughout the 71st, I will work to strengthen the relations between the UN's organs, continuing the practice of holding regular meetings with the secretary-general, the president of the Security Council, and the president of ECOSOC (the Economic and Social Council), and I will inform the membership as to the scope of these meetings," he said.

"And in addition to upholding the principles of transparency and inclusiveness, during the 71st session, I will seek to give greater prominence to ethics in the work of the United Nations," he said.

To show his firm determination to help the world implement the SDGs, the General Assembly president invited his two grand daughters -- seven and five years old -- to the podium of the General Assembly hall, and said, "They will become two young adults in 2030," the deadline of the SDGs, a set of 17 sustainable development targets.

He then rhetorically asked what kind of world would be left to them.

Since its adoption in September 2015, "the 2030 Agenda has since had its foundations strengthened by the historic promise of the Paris Climate Agreement," the president said.

This year marks the beginning of the global efforts to implement the 2030 Development Agenda.

"It has been heartening to observe the sincerity with which governments and national planning agencies around the world have begun integrating the Agenda into national processes," he said.

"But make no mistake, the great majority of humankind has yet to learn of the Agenda it has yet to embrace the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, that if successfully implemented will bring an end to poverty and secure a sustainable place for humanity on this planet."

"It is for this reason that the theme of the 71st session is The Sustainable Development Goals: A Universal Push to Transform our World," he said.

The theme will be further strengthened in the annual high-level debate of the General Assembly, the week-long event which is set to begin on Sept. 20.

Also speaking at the opening ceremony, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "I welcome the theme you have chosen for this session."

"This first year is crucial. It is a time when all member states should align their policies, programmes and spending behind the 17 goals," the secretary-general said. "It is also a time to bring the Paris Agreement on climate change into force."

The high-level event Ban is hosting on Sept. 21 will strengthen momentum for achieving that objective this year.

At the same time, the 71st session of the General Assembly is expected to appoint the next UN secretary-general upon the recommendation of the Security Council to succeed Ban, who will end his term on Dec. 31.

"We must seize the months ahead to garner from him all the broad wisdom and venerable experience he can pass onto us this year," Thomson said. "I look forward very much to working closely with our secretary-general and his team between now and year's end."

The president said that he "will be available at all times to assist the incoming secretary-general settle into her or his responsibilities of office."

"On Jan. 1, 2017, the 71st session will welcome the ninth secretary-general into these halls and conference rooms," Ban said. "Mr. President, you will serve as a bridge between my administration and the next, as you said in your acceptance speech."

"You will have my full support, and that of my team, in ensuring a seamless transition," said the secretary-general.

"The Assembly will be called upon to address many threats, and to show its solidarity with people facing injustice," Ban said. "People also look to this body not just to react to problems, but to work proactively and preventively to better the human condition." Enditem