United Nations General Assembly president speaks at Seton Hall

United Nations General Assembly President Philemon Yang, speaking at Seton Hall University as part of the school’s World Leaders Forum, said countries need to work together to avoid the horrors of the 20th Century.

“We think of the first world war, which was terrible,” he said. “The second world war was even more terrible than the first. Only by bringing together diverse voices can we meet our common goals.”

Hosted by the Seton Hall’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations, the World Leaders Forum provides a space for dialogue where distinguished visitors and students have an opportunity to discuss critical global concerns.

As President of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Yang is responsible for chairing and presiding over the proceedings of the General Assembly through 2026. He oversees enforcement of procedural rules and represents the assembly throughout United Nations committees.

Yang is a veteran politician and former prime minister of Cameroon (2009 to 2019). He served as his country’s ambassador to Canada from 1984 to 1985 and then high commissioner in Canada between 1995 and 2004. Currently, he chairs the African Union’s Panel of Eminent Africans.

The standing-room only event, which was also available on live stream, was held in the Chancellor’s Suite of the Bishop Dougherty University Center on the South Orange campus.

Yang was welcomed to Seton Hall by Courtney Smith,  dean of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations and vice dean of the School of Law, Seton Hall University.

“Seton Hall’s mission is for our students to make a difference in the world,” Smith said.

That sentiment was emphasized during Yang’s hour-long, positive, encouraging speech.

“There are conflicts all over the world,” Yang said. “When we talk of the common challenges of the modern world, there’s a whole list of them.”

Yang told the students about the importance of the United Nations and diplomacy and that they could play a part in the future.

“The United Nations has been seeking to bring progress to a world which is not always easy to handle,” Yang said. “And one of the things we are proud of is that this is, for the very first time, that humanity has been able to put together an organization which is functioning fairly well. We’re not perfect. By taking young people like you are, and making out of you diplomats, those who will be leaders in the future, you are already doing a lot for the whole world—for the international community.”

Yang also spoke of multilateralism — a system of international cooperation involving three or more countries working together to address shared challenges and interests.

“Another expression for this is international cooperation—all the countries in the world coming together so that they can work and do things which are not always done by single countries,” he said.

After the lecture, Yang took questions from students and audience members, which he answered optimistically.

“Humanity can keep doing the best things and advancing towards a day when we’ll be better than today,” he said.

To learn more about Seton Hall’s School of Diplomacy, visit: https://www.shu.edu/diplomacy/

  General Assembly, Seton Hall, United Nations