UN marks 75 years with virtual meeting as pandemic keeps world leaders at home

The United Nations marks its 75th anniversary on Monday but, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be barely any guests. World leaders will stay at home for what is usually the biggest diplomatic event of the year, sending pre-recorded speeches for the first-ever, almost entirely virtual United Nations General Assembly.

The only audible sound in the huge empty hall of the United Nations General Assembly, ahead of this year’s scaled-down General Assembly, or UNGA as it is often dubbed, is a small child crying, “I don’t know what that’s about” quips Stéphane Dujarric, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson, from behind his face mask, which sports the UN logo.