Luanda, ANGOLA, September 22 - President João Lourenço is addressing Tuesday the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.,

The Angolan Statesman, who is expected to speak at the event via videoconference, at 10 pm in Angola, will be the ninth speaker on the first day of the general debate.

João Lourenço is leading a delegation to the forum, made up of Minister of Foreign Affairs Téte António, the Secretary of the President for Diplomatic Affairs and International Cooperation Victor Lima.

The permanent representative to the UN in New York, the Ambassador Maria de Jesus Ferreira, also joins the presidential delegation at the event.  

The opening of general debate, going until 29 September 2020, at United Nations headquarters in New York, will be chaired by the president of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, followed by some remarks by the organisation's secretary general, António Guterres.

Keeping the traditional order of interventions, the first Member State to speak is Brazil,  assisted by the United States.

The 75th Session of the UN General Assembly was officially opened on September 15, 2020 and ends on September 12, 2021.

Its central theme is “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism, facing Covid-19 through effective multilateral actions”.

Its agenda includes assessing the strengthening of global action to combat climate change, the promotion and protection of human rights, gender equality and the promotion of sustainable economic growth and sustainable development.  

It also includes addressing issues on promoting sustainable economic growth and sustainable development, macroeconomic policies, international peace and security and the promotion of justice and international law.  

In addition to the session, several high-level meetings have been underway. The segment on Sustainable Development Goals was held on Friday. During this event, the Angolan Head of State reaffirmed Angola's commitment to work towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, within the framework of the 2030 Agenda.

In his speech, by videoconference, João Lourenço alluded to the struggle to eliminate extreme poverty and the significant reduction in multidimensional poverty levels, until the year 2030.

"The Government of Angola attaches great importance to issues related to combating poverty and raising the well-being and quality of life of the populations," he said.

He pointed out that of the 70 action programmes that form part of the National Development Plan of Angola, for the period 2018-2022, 36 have an impact on the goal of eliminating extreme poverty and reducing multidimensional poverty.

Among the various programmes, he mentioned cash transfers, productive inclusion, the generation of work and income, the expansion of infrastructure and the supply of goods, and the expansion of social services.

As for social services, the President highlighted literacy, education and health, and the strengthening of institutional capacity, especially in the field of social assistance to children, women, young people and the elderly.

Other meetings taking place outside the general debate are those to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations, the 25th Anniversary of the 4th International Conference on Women and the International Day for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, as well as the Biodiversity Summit. Due to the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the present UN General Assembly does not have the presence of the 193 Member States in person.