Skip to Main Content

UN General Assembly Documentation

General Debate

The general debate is part of the General Assembly session and is held at the beginning of each regular session in September, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and A/RES/57/301, and the agenda for the session. Usually, the general debate is agenda item 8 of the regular session agenda.

Each member state has the opportunity to speak during the general debate. Often heads of state or government represent their countries at the general debate. 

The theme for the general debate of the 79th session of the General Assembly is: 

Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations.

The information note on Arrangements for the high-level meetings and the general debate issued each session (A/INF/session/4) includes:

  • Dates and information of the general debate and the high level meetings organized around the time
  • Events convened by the Secretary-General
  • Protocol registration and access arrangements for Member States, observers, intergovernmental organizations, specialized agencies and related organizations
  • Treaty event
  • Security Arrangements
  • Media access arrangements and services
  • Focal points for arrangements related to high-level meetings

The UN Journal is a good source of official information about these activities.

Opening dates of the General Debate

The Secretariat publishes a note with the latest information on the Opening dates of forthcoming regular sessions (A/INF/session/1):

Session  Opening date of the General Assembly Opening date of the general debate
Seventy-ninth Tuesday, 10 September 2024 Tuesday, 24 September 2024
Eightieth Tuesday, 9 September 2025 Tuesday, 23 September 2025
Eighty-first  Tuesday, 8 September 2026 Tuesday, 22 September 2026
Eighty-second Tuesday, 7 September 2027 Tuesday, 21 September 2027
Eighty-third Tuesday, 5 September 2028 Tuesday, 19 September 2028
Eighty-fourth Tuesday, 11 September 2029 Tuesday, 25 September 2029
Eighty-fifth Tuesday, 10 September 2030

Tuesday, 24 September 2030

Eighty-sixth Tuesday, 9 September 2031 Tuesday, 23 September 2031
Eighty-seventh Tuesday, 7 September 2032 Tuesday, 21 September 2032
Eighty-eighth Tuesday, 6 September 2033 Tuesday, 20 September 2033

 

According to paragraph 50 of  resolution 75/325

"The general debate in the General Assembly shall open on the Tuesday of the fourth week in September, counting from the first week that contains at least one working day, and shall be held without interruption over a period of nine working days"

Order of Speakers at the General Debate

By tradition, Brazil usually speaks first at the General Debate, followed by the United States. 

In current practice, after the opening of the meeting by the President of the General Assembly, the order of speakers is: 

  • UN Secretary-General
  • President of the General Assembly 
  • Brazil (regardless of the level of representation) 
  • United States (as the host country, regardless of the level of representation).

Since the 10th session in 1955, Brazil has spoken first and the United States has spoken second, with a few exceptions.

  • At the 38th (1983) and 39th (1984) sessions, the United States spoke first and Brazil spoke second.
  • At the 71st session, on 20 September 2016, Chad spoke second due to the delay in arrival of the President of the United States (see meeting record A/71/PV.8).
  • At the 73rd session, on 25 September 2018, Ecuador spoke second due to the delay in arrival of the President of the United States (see meeting record A/73/PV.6).

The list of the first and second speakers for the first 10 sessions are set out below.

Table of first and second speakers in the General Debate
Session  Date Meeting Record 1st speaker 2nd speaker
1 24 October 1946 A/PV.35 & A/PV.36 Mexico Belgium
2 17 September 1947 A/PV.82 Mexico United States
3 23 September 1948   A/PV.139 Philippines United States
4 21 September 1949 A/PV.222 Brazil United States
5 20 September 1950 A/PV.279 Brazil United States
6 8 November 1951 A/PV.335 Brazil Netherlands
7 16 October 1952 A/PV.379 Cuba Sweden
8 17-18 September 1953 A/PV.434 & A/PV.436 United States Chile
9 23 September 1954 A/PV.475 Canada Chile
10 22 September 1955 A/PV.518 Brazil United States

 

According to the General Debate website, for all other Member States, the speaking order is based on the level of representation, preference and other criteria such as geographic balance. Only the Holy See, the State of Palestine and the European Union are invited to participate in the general debate and their speaking slots are determined by the level of representation.

Meeting records of the General Debate

 The table below links to the meeting records for the general debates of the regular sessions of the General Assembly. 

General Assembly General Debate, 1946 - present

Session

Date Meeting Record UN Digital Library search

1

24-31 Oct. 1946

A/PV.35-45

1946 General Debate

2

17-23 Sept. 1947

A/PV.82-90

1947 General Debate

3

23-29 Sept. 1948

A/PV.139-148

1948 General Debate

4

21-26 Sept. 1949

A/PV.222-229

1949 General Debate

5

20-28 Sept. 1950

A/PV.279-289

1950 General Debate

6

8-16 Nov. 1951

A/PV.335-348

1951 General Debate

7

16 Oct.-25 Nov. 1952

A/PV.379-398

1952 General Debate

8

17-29 Sept. 1953

A/PV.434-449

1953 General Debate

9

23 Sept.-6 Oct. 1954

A/PV.475-492

1954 General Debate

10

22 Sept.-4 Oct. 1955

A/PV.518-533

1955 General Debate

11

16 Nov.-6 Dec. 1956

A/PV.581-611

1956 General Debate

12

19 Sept.-8 Oct. 1957

A/PV.680-703

1957 General Debate

13

18 Sept.-7 Oct. 1958

A/PV.749-774

1958 General Debate

14

17 Sept.-7 Oct. 1959

A/PV.797-824

1959 General Debate

15

22 Sept.-17 Oct. 1960

A/PV.868-907

1960 General Debate

16

22 Sept.-18 Oct. 1961

A/PV.1011-1039

1961 General Debate

17

20 Sept.-18 Oct. 1962

A/PV.1125-1155

1962 General Debate

18

19 Sept.-14 Oct. 1963

A/PV.1208-1240

1963 General Debate

19

3 Dec. 1964-
27 Jan. 1965

A/PV.1289-1325

19th sess. General Debate

20

23 Sept.-15 Oct. 1965

A/PV.1334-1364

1965 General Debate

21

22 Sept.-18 Oct. 1966  A/PV.1412-1447 1966 General Debate

22

21 Sept.-13 Oct. 1967 A/PV.1562-1591 1967 General Debate

23

2-25 Oct. 1968 A/PV.1677-1707 1968 General Debate

24

18 Sept.-8 Oct. 1969 A/PV.1755-1784 1969 General Debate
25 17 Sept.-2 Oct. 1970 A/PV.1841-1859 1970 General Debate
26 27 Sept.-13 Oct. 1971  A/PV.1940-1965 1971 General Debate
27 25 Sept.-11 Oct. 1972  A/PV.2038-2063 1972 General Debate
28 24 Sept.-11 Oct. 1973  A/PV.2124-2150 1973 General Debate
29 23 Sept.-10 Oct. 1974  A/PV.2238-2265 1974 General Debate
30 22 Sept.-9 Oct. 1975 A/PV.2355-2382 1975 General Debate
31 27 Sept.-14 Oct. 1976 A/31/PV.5-32 1976 General Debate
32 26 Sept.-13 Oct. 1977 A/32/PV.6-33 1977 General Debate
33 25 Sept.-13 Oct. 1978 A/33/PV.6-34 1978 General Debate
34 24 Sept.-12 Oct. 1979 A/34/PV.5-32 1979 General Debate
35 22 Sept.-10 Oct. 1980 A/35/PV.4-33 1980 General Debate
36 21 Sept.-9 Oct. 1981 A/36/PV.5-33 1981 General Debate
37 27 Sept.-15 Oct. 1982 A/37/PV.5-34 1982 General Debate
38 26 Sept.-14 Oct. 1983 A/38/PV.5-33 1983 General Debate
39 24 Sept.-11 Oct. 1984 A/39/PV.4-31 1984 General Debate
40 23 Sept.-11 Oct. 1985 A/40/PV.4-33 1985 General Debate
41 22 Sept.-10 Oct. 1986 A/41/PV.4-32 1986 General Debate
42 21 Sept.-9 Oct. 1987 A/42/PV.4-33 1987 General Debate
43 26 Sept.-13 Oct. 1988 A/43/PV.4-31 1988 General Debate
44 25 Sept.-12 Oct. 1989 A/44/PV.4-31 1989 General Debate
45 24 Sept.-10 Oct. 1990 A/45/PV.4-29 1990 General Debate
46 23 Sept.-10 Oct. 1991 A/46/PV.4-30 1991 General Debate
47 21 Sept.-8 Oct. 1992 A/47/PV.4-30 1992 General Debate
48 27 Sept.-13 Oct. 1993 A/48/PV.4-29 1993 General Debate
49 26 Sept.-12 Oct. 1994 A/49/PV.4-28 1994 General Debate
50 25 Sept.-11 Oct. 1995 A/50/PV.4-29 1995 General Debate
51 23 Sept.-10 Oct. 1996 A/51/PV.4-30 1996 General Debate
52 22 Sept.-7 Oct. 1997 A/52/PV.5-28 1997 General Debate
53 21 Sept.-2 Oct. 1998 A/53/PV.7-26 1998 General Debate
54 20 Sept.-2 Oct. 1999 A/54/PV.4-22 1999 General Debate
55 12-22 Sept. 2000 A/55/PV.10-28 2000 General Debate
56 10-16 Nov. 2001 A/56/PV.44-57 2001 General Debate
57 12-20 Sept. 2002 A/57/PV.2-19 2002 General Debate
58 23 Sept.-2, 17 Oct. 2003 A/58/PV.7-20, 36 2003 General Debate
59 21-30 Sept. 2004 A/59/PV.3-17 2004 General Debate
60 16-23 Sept. 2005 A/60/PV.9-23 2005 General Debate
61 19-27 Sept. 2006 A/61/PV.10-23 2006 General Debate
62 25 Sept.-3 Oct. 2007 A/62/PV.4-16 2007 General Debate
63 23-29 Sept. 2008 A/63/PV.5-16 2008 General Debate
64 23-26 & 28-29 Sept. 2009 A/64/PV.3-13 2009 General Debate
65 23-25 & 27-30 Sept. 2010 A/65/PV.11-12, 14-17, 19-24 2010 General Debate
66 21-24 & 26-27 Sept. 2011 A/66/PV.11-13, 15-16, 18-30 2011 General Debate
67 25-28 Sept. & 1-3 Oct. 2012 A/67/PV.6- A/67/PV.21 2012 General Debate
68 24 Sept.-1 Oct. 2013 A/68/PV.5-10, 12-23 2013 General Debate
69 24-30 Sept. 2014 A/69/PV.6-20 2014 General Debate
70 28 Sept. - 3 Oct. 2015 A/70/PV.13-28 2015 General Debate
71 20-26 Sept. 2016 A/71/PV.8-22 2016 General Debate
72 19-25 Sept. 2017 A/72/PV.3-23 2017 General Debate
73 25 Sept.-1 Oct. 2018 A/73/PV.6-16 2018 General Debate
74 24-30 Sept. 2019 A/74/PV.3-13 2019 General Debate
75 22-26 & 29 Sept.2020 A/75/PV.4-14 2020 General Debate
76 21-25 & 27 Sept.2021 A/76/PV.3-17 2021 General Debate
77 16-26 Sept. 2022 A/77/PV.3-14 2022 General Debate
78 19-28 Sept. 2023 A/78/PV.4-14 2023 General Debate
79 24-30 Sept 2024 A/79/PV.7-18 2024 General Debate

 

Updates to above box, pending

Note from Metadata Unit, Oct 2024, the following symbols listed in general debate table, are not correct: 

A/33/PV.30    not general debate
A/34/PV.17    "special statements" agenda, not general debate
A/50/PV.20    not general debate, 50th session commemoration
A/57/PV.10    not general debate
A/57/PV.11    not general debate
A/76/PV.5    not general debate
A/76/PV.8    not general debate
A/77/PV.3    not general debate
A/PV.1146    not general debate
A/PV.1154    not general debate
A/PV.1232    not general debate
A/PV.1238    not general debate
A/PV.1312    not general debate
A/PV.1313    not general debate
A/PV.1314    not general debate
A/PV.1315    not general debate
A/PV.1320    not general debate
A/PV.1324    not general debate
A/PV.1336    not general debate
A/PV.1347    not general debate
A/PV.1415    not general debate
A/PV.1417    not general debate
A/PV.1419    not general debate
A/PV.142    not general debate
A/PV.1425    not general debate
A/PV.1427    not general debate
A/PV.1429    not general debate
A/PV.1431    not general debate
A/PV.1433    not general debate
A/PV.1439    not general debate
A/PV.1564    not general debate
A/PV.1699    not general debate
A/PV.1843    not general debate
A/PV.1852    not general debate
A/PV.2248    not general debate
A/PV.284    not general debate
A/PV.341    not general debate
A/PV.342    not general debate
A/PV.381    not general debate
A/PV.386    not general debate
A/PV.387    not general debate
A/PV.388    not general debate
A/PV.389    not general debate
A/PV.390    not general debate
A/PV.391    not general debate
A/PV.435    not general debate
A/PV.477    not general debate
A/PV.478    not general debate
A/PV.521    not general debate
A/PV.525    not general debate
A/PV.530    not general debate
A/PV.582    not general debate
A/PV.583    not general debate
A/PV.584    not general debate
A/PV.585    not general debate
A/PV.586    not general debate
A/PV.587    not general debate
A/PV.591    not general debate
A/PV.592    not general debate
A/PV.593    not general debate
A/PV.594    not general debate
A/PV.595    not general debate
A/PV.596    not general debate
A/PV.604    not general debate
A/PV.605    not general debate
A/PV.606    not general debate
A/PV.607    not general debate
A/PV.608    not general debate
A/PV.684    not general debate
A/PV.695    not general debate
A/PV.696    not general debate