President of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly Miroslav Lajcak (C) speaks during the General Debate of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The VIP session of this year's United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) concluded here on Monday, after all 196 representatives spoke at the marble podium in the past week.
Miroslav Lajcak, president of the General Assembly, declared the conclusion of the General Debate of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, calling for efforts to putting people first.
In his closing remarks, Lajcak said the priorities of the 72nd session would be conflict prevention, human rights, and sustainable development and climate change.
All 196 representatives -- from 193 UN member states plus representatives of Palestine, the Holy See and the European Union -- have spoken at the General Debate, the first time in 11 years, said Lajcak.
During this year's general debate, 421 meetings were held plus 356 side events and 1,528 bilateral meetings, said Brenden Varma, spokesman for Lajack.