The 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will open on Tuesday, 14 September 2021 at the UN Headquarters in New York, in a hybrid (virtual/in-person) format, with limited in-person presence, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Heads of states and governments from 193 Member States will exchange statements in-person and via pre-recorded messages, played in the General Assembly Hall, on the theme “Building resilience through hope – to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people and revitalize the United Nations”.
High-level events will include the SDG Moment, Food Systems Summit, High-level Dialogue on Energy, 20th Anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action to tackle racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and several Member State and partner events, including WHO side events.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as well as other WHO officials, will take part virtually in several of the events to highlight the importance of ensuring strong pandemic preparedness and response, as well as equitable access to vaccines and other COVID-19 tools in order to put the world back on the path towards achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Watch, listen and follow the events from wherever you are in the world on UN WebTV and find out more about the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly through its webpage.
WHO SIDE EVENTS AT UNGA76
Menu for Action: Food Systems Delivering Better Health
21 September 2021 | 08.00-09.00 EST | 14.00-15.00 CET |
Against the backdrop of the UN Food Systems Summit the World Health Organization is holding a virtual teaser event to pre-launch its six briefs on actions in the food system to deliver better health and nutrition for all. During the event WHO will introduce the six new briefs, as well as recent work on food safety, that aim to inform policy makers and their advisors on evidence-based interventions to make food systems healthier; and provide space for sharing of experiences of different food system actors that are linked to this intervention package.
Co-Sponsor: WHO
Meeting the Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health-related SDG Targets: the urgent need to scale up catalytic financing and technical support
22 September 2021 | 10.00-11.30 EST | 16:00-17:30 CET |
UN Inter-Agency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases: mobilizing resources and technical support with and for Member States to deliver the NCD and mental health-related Sustainable Development Goal targets during and beyond COVID-19.
Co-Sponsors: WHO, Russian Federation
Immunization Agenda 2030: Leveraging the global response to COVID-19 to strengthen health systems and build back better
23 September 2021 | 07.30-09.00 EST | 13.30-15.00 CET |
Co-Sponsors: WHO, GAVI, UNF, UNICEF, IA2030
Women, Health and Gender equality: Commit, accelerate, scale up!
23 September 2021 | 09:00-10:30 EST | 15:00-16:30 CET |
Gender equality is fundamental to fulfill everyone’s right to the highest attainable standard of health and is a key driver of the Sustainable Development Goals. Join this event as we carry forward the momentum from the Generation Equality Forum for a discussion on the work of global health-related initiatives to tackle gender inequality and promote the need for gender transformative strategies in COVID-19 recovery and beyond.
Co-Sponsors: WHO, France, United States of America, Women in Global Health, Gavi
Progress and Multisectoral Action Towards Achieving Global Targets to End TB
24 September 2021 | 10:00-12:00 EST | 16:00-18:00 CET |
A special UN General Assembly virtual side event will review progress towards reaching global TB targets, advance multisectoral action & accountability, and discuss preparations for the 2023 UN High Level Meeting on TB.
Co-Sponsors: WHO, Russian Federation
Promoting Transparency to Counter Disinformation and Build Trust
27 September 2021 | 08.00-09.30 EST | 14:00-15:30 CET |
The 90-minute event will consist of high-level opening remarks and a moderated panel discussion with United Nations agencies and Member States, stakeholder groups, and other experts. The panel discussion will consider what has transpired over the past year, listen to the Member States and various stakeholders and share highlights from the collaborative UN interagency work, and consideration of challenges and solutions.
Co-Sponsors: WHO, UN Global Pulse, the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, the United Nations Department of Global Communications, UNDP, UNESCO
Commemorating 10-years since the first Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of NCDs (2011): reflections and hope
27 September 2021 | 10.00-11.30 EST | 16:00-17:30 CET |
On 27 September, please join WHO, the Government of Norway and the NCD Alliance for an engaging online-only event. Learn from the expertise of Member States, WHO staff, persons living with NCDs and civil society leaders on their reflections of the last 10 years of progress, championing successes and opportunities for the NCD agenda over the coming decade, and how WHO is developing a forthcoming implementation roadmap for 2023-2030 in support of achieving SDG target 3.4.
Co-Sponsors: WHO, Norway, NCD Alliance
The Road to 2023: Kickoff to the high-level meeting on universal health coverage
Gaps, Challenges, and Opportunities to Accelerate Progress on UHC
30 September 2021 | 08:00-09:30 EST | 14:00-15:30 CST |
This event will commemorate the two-year anniversary of the 2019 High-level Meeting on UHC, share lessons learned and pave the way for the 2023 HLM on UHC, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Co-Chairs: WHO, Group of Friends of Universal Health Coverage and Global Health (Permanent Missions of Georgia, Japan, and Thailand to the UN), UHC2030