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STORY: UN / GENERAL ASSEMBLY OPENING SESSION
TRT: 5:16
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 09 SEPTEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1.Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
09 SEPTEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
1. Various shots, Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly announcing the opening of the Session
2. Various shots, delegates observing a minute of silence
3. Wide shot, Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly walking to the podium
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly:
“The world needs the United Nations. In no way would we be better off without it. This remains the only organization capable of bringing together every country in the world. The only one capable of acting on a truly global scale. The only one with worldwide political legitimacy and moral authority.”
5. Wide shot, General Assembly
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly:
“Our job today – 80 years later - is to keep it alive, to strengthen it, and to make it fit for the 21st century. That is why this is no ordinary session. This is the year to adapt, to evolve, and to build the United Nations we need for the next 80 years – for the lifetimes of our children. It is a moment to show eight billion people why this Organization still matters. Why they are right to look to the blue flag of the United Nations as a source of hope.”
7. Wide shot, General Assembly
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly:
“As I stand here today and open the 80th session, I commit to serving each of the 193 Member States of this Organization equally. I will be impartial, a bridge builder, guided by only one thing - our United Nations Charter. It will be my North Star. I will always act with the belief that we are truly better together.”
9. Wide shot, General Assembly
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly:
“Let us not re-learn the hard lessons. Let us instead come together, especially in the moments we would like to give up, to respond to those desperate calls from around our world. To bring relief to the hungry children of Gaza. To give Afghan girls their future back. To deliver peace to the people of Ukraine. To provide safety to Sudanese women and girls. To save small island states from the climate catastrophe. And to deliver on the promise of ending poverty in all its forms.”
11. Wide shot, General Assembly
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly:
“This 80th session is our chance. Our chance to make it, not break it. To live up to the promises of the Charter. For today, for tomorrow, and for the next 80 years. Showing that we are, indeed, better together.”
13. Wide shot, Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly leaving the podium
14. Wide shot, Secretary-General António Guterres walking to the podium
15. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The United Nations provides the place. The Charter provides the tools. And the Pact for the Future, adopted last September, provided a shot in the arm for the multilateral system and the values that have defined this organization from day one. The Pact reminds us that, eight decades on, we can and must continue rising above division and working together. To make our world a better, more peaceful and prosperous place for all.”
16. Wide shot, General Assembly
17. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“As we begin this 80th session, I call on all Member States to summon the same resolve and spirit of determination that brought delegates to San Francisco in 1945. Let’s live up to their vision — and most importantly, to the expectations and hopes of today’s people around the world.”
18. Wide shot, Guterres leaving the podium
Opening the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly today (9 Sep), the President of the Session Annalena Baerbock reiterated, “The world needs the United Nations,” calling on nations to uphold UN Charter. “We are, indeed, better together,” she said.
Addressing the General Assembly, Baerbock emphasized that the world body “remains the only organization capable of bringing together every country in the world. The only one capable of acting on a truly global scale. The only one with worldwide political legitimacy and moral authority.”
The President of the General Assembly described the 80th Session as a “no ordinary session.”
“Our job today – 80 years later - is to keep it alive, to strengthen it, and to make it fit for the 21st century,” she said.
Baerbock continued, “This is the year to adapt, to evolve, and to build the United Nations we need for the next 80 years – for the lifetimes of our children. It is a moment to show eight billion people why this Organization still matters. Why they are right to look to the blue flag of the United Nations as a source of hope.”
The President of the General Assembly reaffirmed her commitment to serving each of the 193 Member States of this Organization “equally.”
“I will be impartial, a bridge builder, guided by only one thing - our United Nations Charter. It will be my North Star. I will always act with the belief that we are truly better together,” she stressed.
The theme of the High-Level Week is: Better Together: Eighty Years and More for Peace, Development, and Human Rights.
Baerbock encouraged all to embrace the theme, not only at this year’s General Debate, but also throughout the work of the upcoming session.
“Let us not re-learn the hard lessons,” she said, “Let us instead come together, especially in the moments we would like to give up, to respond to those desperate calls from around our world. To bring relief to the hungry children of Gaza. To give Afghan girls their future back. To deliver peace to the people of Ukraine. To provide safety to Sudanese women and girls. To save small island states from the climate catastrophe. And to deliver on the promise of ending poverty in all its forms.”
The President of the General Assembly concluded, “This 80th session is our chance. Our chance to make it, not break it. To live up to the promises of the Charter. For today, for tomorrow, and for the next 80 years. Showing that we are, indeed, better together.”
Secretary-General António Guterres congratulated on Baerbock’s election — which holds added significance as she became only the fifth woman in history to be elected to this important role.
Addressing the General Assembly, Guterres said, “The United Nations provides the place. The Charter provides the tools. And the Pact for the Future, adopted last September, provided a shot in the arm for the multilateral system and the values that have defined this organization from day one.”
“The Pact reminds us that, eight decades on, we can and must continue rising above division and working together. To make our world a better, more peaceful and prosperous place for all,” he added.
The Secretary-General called on all Member States to “summon the same resolve and spirit of determination that brought delegates to San Francisco in 1945.”
“Let’s live up to their vision — and most importantly, to the expectations and hopes of today’s people around the world,” he concluded.
The debate of the 80th session will open on Tuesday, 23 September, continue through Saturday, 27 September, and conclude on Monday, 29 September 2025.
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