The U.N. General Assembly's yearly meeting of world leaders is here - and with it, an array of acronyms, abbreviations, titles and terms that can be confounding to observers. Here is some key vocabulary, decoded.
For starters ...
UNGA Acronym yes, people do pronounce it "UN'-gah" for the U.N. General Assembly's "High-level Week." It's the international organization's biggest annual event, inviting presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and other top leaders of all 193 U.N. member countries to speak to the world and each other. Although New Yorkers sometimes just use "General Assembly" to describe what many experience mainly as a week of street closures and whizzing motorcades, the assembly actually isn't just this meeting. It's a body that convenes countries' ambassadors throughout the year to discuss a wide range of global issues and vote on resolutions.
GENERAL DEBATE The centerpiece of the week, it gives each country's leader or a designee the mic for a state-of-the-world speech from its viewpoint. There is a theme, chosen by the assembly's president - this year's is about "leaving no one behind" and "acting together" to advance peace, sustainable development and human dignity. But speakers use the opportunity to opine on the planet's biggest issues and hotspots, spotlight domestic accomplishments and needs, air grievances, and project statesmanship. Dignitaries are asked to wrap up within 15 minutes, but there's no buzzer or Oscars-style music. While the "debate" is less an interactive back-and-forth than a series of speeches, rebuttals are allowed at the end of each long day, and some embittered neighbor nations routinely go multiple rounds.
BILATERAL or "bilat," for short Private meetings between leaders of one country and another. Some argue the real value of UNGA lies in these tete-a-tetes and other personal, off-camera encounters among decision-makers.
