AROUND THE WORLD RUNNING THE SHOW: Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is well-known to the U.N. community for his ground-breaking work on micro-finance, but he is at UNGA this week in a new capacity — the de-facto interim leader of Bangladesh since long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country. Yunus went big on the climate challenges facing Bangladesh in his address to the General Assembly on Friday. He also had met political heavy hitters like Biden, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and European Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen during the week — a significant show of engagement. Crucially, Yunus has still not announced a date for elections following the toppling of the Hasina government last month. BEIJING DOES VICTORY LAP: China’s Wang Yi will deliver Beijing’s national statement to the assembly today. Earlier in the week, China touted what it claimed was a ringing endorsement of its human rights record by dozens of U.N. countries, Phelim Kine writes in to report. U.N. representatives of countries including Cuba and Venezuela supported China’s “just position” on its policies in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong via joint statements, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. Not so fast: Chinese rights activists called foul. In fact, it showed “Beijing’s efforts to gaslight the international community and undermine human rights norms through established procedures at the U.N.," said Yaqiu Wang, research director for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at the advocacy group Freedom House, Phelim says. BRICS GENDER PROBLEM: It’s emerging as an increasingly powerful association in global politics, but the BRICS group of countries, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is striking for another reason — it’s an all-male affair. The lack of female representation was hard to miss at Thursday’s meeting of foreign ministers. TRUDEAU’S TRAVAILS: French President Emmanuel Macron headed north to Canada this week after his U.N. visit for a two-day trip where he was hosted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Though both are known well internationally, they’re facing domestic political pressure, with Trudeau fighting a general election next year. POLITICO’s Anne McElvoy spoke to the Number 2 in Trudeau’s government, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, in this week’s Power Play podcast. TAKING STOCK REFLECTING ON THE FUTURE: The high-level week of this year’s U.N. General Assembly started with a big bang as world leaders agreed on a Pact for the Future last Sunday, the culmination of what the U.N. dubbed a “global conversation," which brought forward recommendations on everything from Security Council reform to a revision of the world's financial architecture. But is it just another talking-shop communique? Taking stock: U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Policy Guy Ryder said that “the very fact that the pact was agreed in the midst of such divisions and tensions geopolitically is important,” despite Russia's last-minute effort to table amendments right at the end. Managing expectations: “Nobody comes out of these negotiations 100 percent satisfied with what they have. That’s the nature of these sorts of negotiations," he said. "But there was enough people in the room with a small number of exceptions, who said, there is something here on the table that we don't want to let go of.” Ryder knows a thing or two about negotiations — he was a top union and ILO official for years. Buy-in from the non-Western world: In particular Ryder highlighted the buy-in from the G77 group of developing countries, noting that African countries were dubious at the outset. "They were worried that it would be a distraction from the 2030 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. But ultimately, Africa was among the first to say "let's get this done." Next steps: The 56 “actions” contained in the Pact for the Future will feed into a range of international summits already on the agenda, from the IMF-World Bank annual meetings to next year’s Financing for Development conference in Spain. A gaping hole, however, is peace and security, given the lack of concrete commitments. It means that plans to reboot the U.N.’s peace-building missions may remain a pipe dream. MOMENTS OF THE WEEK — Brazilian Prime Minister Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva railing against billionaires as he sat a few feet from Bill Gates at the Goalkeepers event in Jazz at Lincoln Center on Monday. — Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley quoting the New Testament in her speech to the U.N. General Assembly, just after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his address. — Actress Meryl Streep sounding the alarm bell about the increasing repression of women by Afghanistan at an event hosted by Qatar, Indonesia, Ireland and Switzerland on Monday. "A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not, and a woman may not in public," the Academy Award winner said. "This is extraordinary.” — In one of the most unique venues this week, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, were among the top names at an event at Central Park Zoo on Tuesday hosted by the High Ambition Coalition, urging action on biodiversity. — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen running in Central Park sporting a ‘I LOVE EU” T-shirt. The beefy security detail was able to keep pace with her; as for her own officials from Brussels? Not so sure. AGENDA — High-level general debate of the United Nations General Assembly continues, 9 a.m. Prime Minister of Grenada Dickon Mitchell, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud; Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov; Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of UAE; India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar; China’s Wang Yi; Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan; Cuba’s Bruno Eduardo Rodríguez Parrilla; Enrique Austria Manalo, secretary of foreign affairs, Philippines. — Working together to tackle racism and the climate crisis; part of New York Climate Week; hosted by Sustaining All Life/United to End Racism; 10:30 a.m.; East 41st Street. Thanks to Nahal Toosi, Mona Zhang, Eric Bazail-Eimil, Phelim Kine and editor Jones Hayden. For your diary: Global Playbook is heading to the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington next month. Get in touch with any tips or events at slynch@politico.eu.
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