By Cheikh Fall, Third Path Africa
Every September, the United Nations General Assembly convenes in New York. Heads of state gather, deliver eloquent speeches, and reaffirm their commitment to peace, justice, and development. But behind the grandeur lies a troubling pattern: the same issues raised year after year—some dating back to the Société des Nations—are met with the same inertia.
Wars in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and conflicts across the globe continue to fester. Structural domination by Western powers over UN institutions remains untouched. The long-denied permanent seat for Africa on the Security Council, the elusive reform of the UN itself, and calls for a new international order—these are not new demands. They are echoes from a century of deferred justice.
UNGA has earned its nickname: the “World Cup of diplomacy.” But unlike the real World Cup, there are no winners—only recycled grievances and unfulfilled resolutions. Today’s urgent needs—climate collapse, development finance, peace enforcement, and Africa’s sovereignty—are discussed with gravity but rarely acted upon. Resolutions are symbolic. Commitments are forgotten. And the global South, rebranded as “developing nations,” continues to bear the cost of a system designed to preserve imbalance.
In this context, the UN Secretary-General’s message is not a diplomatic nicety—it is a rebuke. His call to “focus on solving problems, not scoring points” is a rare act of moral defiance. He stands among the few willing to confront the moral bankruptcy of the current order, even at the cost of Western ire.
UNGA Must Shed Its Costume—Diplomacy Demands Accountability
If UNGA is to mean anything, it must become a site of transformative agenda-setting:
• Binding follow-up mechanisms for every resolution passed
• Transparent tracking of commitments made by member states
• Structural reform that reflects the demographic and moral weight of Africa and the global South
• Resource justice—not charity—in climate finance and development infrastructure
The world does not need another week of speeches. It needs a week of reckoning. And if the Secretary-General’s voice is to be more than a lone cry in the wilderness, it must be echoed by those who refuse to let diplomacy become theater.