UN General Assembly opens 71st session

Following tradition, the new session began one week before the assembly's high-level debate kicks off next Tuesday with the participation of world leaders.

The session will be presided over by Fijian diplomat Peter Thomson,who was elected as president of the General Assembly in June and will hold the mainly ceremonial position for one year.

Thomson will oversee the election of the next UN secretary general, which is expected to take place in October once the UN Security Council makes its recommendation to the General Assembly, essentially asking the assembly to rubber stamp its chosen candidate.

"Mr President, you will serve as a bridge between my administration and the next," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told Thomson. "You will have my full support, and that of my team, in ensuring a seamless transition."

As a representative of a small island developing nation that has experienced the effects of climate change, Thomson vowed to focus his presidency on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs), an ambitious agenda of 17 goals to be met by 2030.

The goals include the implementation of the Paris climate agreement, the advancement of just and equal societies, achieving sustainable development and the eradication of extreme poverty.

Standing on the podium with granddaughters Grace, 7, and Mirabelle, 5, Thomson said that the world's ability to fulfil the pledges made in the SDGs over the next 14 years will have a direct impact on his grandchildren's lives.

"What kind of a world will we have bequeathed them?" Thomson said.

"I swear, on the love these grandchildren, I'll do all in my power... to keep the headings of the 2030 sustainable development agenda on cause and the promised shores of a sustainable way of life on this planet will be achieved when the year 2030 comes around."

Thomson also became the first incoming assembly president to take an oath. He was required under a recently created code of ethics to pledge to "truthfully perform (his) duties ... without seeking or accepting any instruction ... from any government or other source external to the organisation."

The oath comes after former UN General Assembly president John Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda was indicted on bribery charges in October 2015.

Ashe, who died in June, had been indicted by a US court for allegedly accepting a total of 1.3 million dollars in bribes from a Chinese billionaire real estate developer to promote business interests in his official UN capacity.

- DPA