Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
The United Nations is in New York. Many countries send leaders there. This week is a big meeting.
The meeting started on Tuesday. It is called the General Assembly. Almost 130 leaders came.
Every leader gets time to speak. Brazil speaks first. The United States speaks second.
The leaders talk about war, money and new technology. The meeting lasts until September 29.
- leader
- A person who is in charge of a country or a group.
- meeting
- A time when people come together to talk.
- country
- A land with its own government, such as Brazil or Japan.
- speak
- To say words to other people.
- week
- A period of seven days.
- first
- Before all the others.
- world
- All the countries and people on Earth.
- peace
- A time with no war.
Level 2 — Elementary
The General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly opened on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at the UN headquarters in Manhattan, New York. It is the 81st session of the assembly.
Nearly 130 presidents and prime ministers travelled to New York for the event. The high-level week runs until September 29, and each country is given time at the podium.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave the opening remarks. This is his last high-level week, because his term as head of the United Nations ends at the end of the year.
Brazil spoke first, following a tradition that has been kept since 1955. The United States, as the host country, spoke second. The war involving Iran, the world economy, artificial intelligence and climate change are the main subjects this year.
- assembly
- A large group of people who meet to make decisions together.
- session
- An official period of meetings.
- headquarters
- The main office of an organisation.
- prime minister
- The head of government in many countries.
- podium
- A raised stand that a speaker stands behind.
- tradition
- Something that has been done the same way for a long time.
- term
- The fixed period of time that somebody holds a job.
- host
- The person or country that receives visitors.
Level 3 — Intermediate
The General Debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at the organisation's headquarters in Manhattan. It is the single largest gathering in world diplomacy, and nearly 130 heads of state and government have travelled to New York for a high-level week that runs until September 29.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered the opening remarks. The occasion carries an extra weight this year because his term ends in December, making this the final high-level week of his time in charge. Reform of the United Nations itself, and doubts about whether the international system can still manage crises that cross borders, are running through the corridors as much as through the speeches.
The speaking order follows custom rather than seniority. Brazil takes the floor first, a practice maintained since 1955 that dates back to years when no other delegation wanted to open the debate. The United States follows in second place as the host country, and every remaining delegation is then slotted into a list that diplomats negotiate for weeks in advance.
The agenda this year is unusually crowded. The war involving Iran hangs over the week, along with economic instability, the rapid spread of artificial intelligence, and mounting climate pressure. Much of the real business is expected to happen away from the podium, in bilateral meetings arranged on the margins of the assembly.
- diplomacy
- The work of managing relations between countries.
- delegation
- A group of people sent to represent a country or organisation.
- bilateral
- Involving two sides or two countries.
- agenda
- The list of subjects to be discussed at a meeting.
- custom
- A way of behaving that a group has followed for a long time.
- crisis
- A dangerous situation that needs urgent attention.
- margins
- The edges of an event, where informal meetings take place.
- reform
- A change made to improve a system or organisation.
Level 4 — Advanced
The General Debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly convened on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, drawing close to 130 heads of state and government to a stretch of Manhattan that becomes, for one week each September, the most heavily policed square mile in world politics. The high-level segment runs until September 29, and the choreography is by now familiar: a Secretary-General's opening address, a procession of national statements, and a parallel economy of bilateral encounters that rarely appears on any official programme.
What distinguishes this year is the sense of an institution taking stock of itself. Antonio Guterres opened what will be his final high-level week, his term expiring at the close of the year, and the question of succession has been circulating among delegations for months. Beneath it sits a harder question that delegates raise with unusual bluntness: whether the multilateral machinery built in 1945 retains the authority to manage crises that ignore borders, from armed conflict and forced displacement to pandemics and the governance of artificial intelligence.
The speaking order preserves a quirk of institutional memory. Brazil has opened the debate since 1955, an arrangement that began as a practical solution when no delegation cared to go first and hardened into protocol; the host country follows in second position. That ordering is one of the few things about the week that is not contested, and diplomats spend weeks bargaining over the remaining slots, since a mid-morning appearance before a full chamber is worth considerably more than a Friday afternoon address to empty seats.
The substantive agenda is correspondingly crowded. The conflict involving Iran overshadows the proceedings, while economic instability, the accelerating diffusion of artificial intelligence and intensifying climate pressure compete for attention in a fixed number of speaking minutes. Whether the assembly can convert that attention into anything binding is the recurring doubt, and it is one the organisation's own leadership has voiced more openly than at any point in recent memory.
- convene
- To come together formally for a meeting or session.
- multilateral
- Involving many countries acting together.
- choreography
- The carefully arranged sequence of events in a performance or ceremony.
- succession
- The process by which one person takes over a position from another.
- protocol
- The formal system of rules governing official occasions.
- displacement
- The forced movement of people away from their homes.
- binding
- Legally forcing somebody to do what has been agreed.
- diffusion
- The process by which something spreads widely.
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