No big fiery speech expected this year at the United Nations platform.
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the UN, heads of state around the world will have to settle for a virtual meeting on Monday, September 21, due to the health crisis.
In the gigantic United Nations building, only the sound of escalators resonates.
"If it were a normal opening day for the General Assembly, 2,500 people would pass through these doors, deplores Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United Nations. All the seats would be occupied, including on the balconies and some should stay standing. I have been here for 20 years and each time the first day you feel electricity in the air, magic with the presence of all these heads of state and government. And this time , we won't have that. "
>> To read: Donald Trump will activate a procedure at the UN to restore anti-Iran sanctions
Aggressive diplomacy
There will still be Donald Trump's highly anticipated speech.
Two years ago, his offensive speech tinged with nationalism did not fail to mark the spirits.
"This year, he really stepped up his aggressive diplomacy towards the multilateral system, leading a fight against his allies like France or Great Britain on sanctions against Iran", comments Richard Gowan, director of the UN.
In the deserted and disinfected building, the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, remains one of the few people we meet.
On his shoulders, the weight of an unprecedented global health crisis and growing animosity from influential members.
Antonio Guterres told Reuters the pandemic has exposed global vulnerabilities.
He plans to tell heads of state to work together against a backdrop of multilateral challenges and a lack of solutions.
Global slowdown
The fifteen members of the Security Council have taken months to support Guterres' call for a comprehensive ceasefire for the benefit of the fight against the coronavirus, in particular because of the rivalries between China and the United States.
The 193 member states of the General Assembly only adopted a compendium of resolution on "a comprehensive response" to the pandemic earlier this month, but failed to find consensus, as the United States and Israel opposed it.
A $ 10.3 billion (€ 8.7 billion) fundraising appeal to help the most vulnerable and needy countries has so far raised only a quarter of the funding needed.
Guterres is now pushing to make access to a vaccine against the virus accessible to everyone.
According to a senior European diplomat who requested anonymity, the General Assembly should have acted months ago, but "the Covid-19 hit us all and slowed down".
With AFP
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