Balanced News: UN’s relevance in focus as world leaders gather

During the opening of the annual U.N. General Assembly, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.S. President Joe Biden called for reforms of the global body’s central institutions. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva also spoke, highlighting the world’s inequitable development and the failure to reach the U.N.’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Biden acknowledged the world’s lack of progress on the SDGs and called for fundamental reforms to the United Nations. Guterres raised concerns about the U.N. Security Council’s membership structure and the need for strong and effective multilateral institutions in a changing world.