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The 81st session of the UN General Assembly is taking place against a tense, rapidly changing geopolitical backdrop and at a time when the UN is facing an existential crisis. Polarisation and great power rivalry are on the rise. The UN General Assembly is the world’s most representative multilateral forum for dialogue and policy development. As such, it is a key arena for international cooperation, promoting Norwegian interests, and for finding solutions to global challenges. While the overall guidelines for Norwegian multilateral policy remain unchanged (see Meld. St. 27 (2018–2019)), we must adapt to a constantly shifting global landscape. The future capacity of the UN will depend on the scale of the changes achieved in the UN80 reform process.

The 81st session of the UN General Assembly will open on 8 September 2026 at the UN Headquarters in New York and will begin with the inauguration of the new President, Mr Khalilur Rahman of Bangladesh. The theme for the 81st session will be: Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations that Delivers for All. The General Assembly High-level Week, including the General Debate, will take place from 21–25 September. Norway’s delegation will be led by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide, Minister of International Development Åsmund Grøver Aukrust, and Minister of Climate and Environment, Andreas Bjelland Eriksen will also be taking part. Representatives of Norwegian civil society organisations will be included in the Norwegian delegation and will participate in various events during the autumn session. Many of the General Assembly meetings will be streamed online and will be accessible to everyone.

A number of high-level meetings will be held during the High-level Week, including an event to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, a high-level meeting on sea-level rise, and a high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. There will also be a high-level meeting to mark the 25th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, and an event to mark the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

The process surrounding the selection of the next Secretary-General will be a key priority for Norway. Since 2016, Norway has played a prominent role in promoting a more transparent and inclusive selection process, for example by strengthening the crucial role of the General Assembly.

The multilateral system based on international law is vital for Norway. Global challenges such as the climate and health crises can only be addressed through international cooperation under the UN. However, the multilateral system is currently under enormous pressure, and we are at a critical crossroads. The wars in the Middle East and Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine involve clear violations of international law, including the UN Charter, and are undermining the international community’s confidence in the UN’s ability to maintain international peace and security.

In addition, the UN is facing an acute funding crisis. The Secretary-General has raised the alarm and warned that if the member states do not pay their assessed contributions in full and on time, the UN will in practice go bankrupt. The funding crisis is affecting the UN’s efforts in the areas of climate, peace and security, humanitarian action, long-term development and human rights. If the situation is not rectified, the UN’s ability to deliver on the ground will be greatly reduced. The steadily widening gap between the SDGs and the available financing, combined with a rise in war and conflict, is increasing divisions between major donor countries and countries in the Global South.

Norway has made it clear that it will maintain its support to the UN. Many other countries are doing the same, but this cannot compensate for the loss of funding from the US and other major donors.

Under his UN80 initiative, the UN Secretary-General has put forward a number of proposals for reforming the UN system, including efficiency measures, changes to the way UN mandates are created, and structural changes. The aim is to adapt the work of the UN to the current situation, including the funding crisis. The cross-regional UN80 Global group will meet towards the end of the high-level week to agree on a set of reform recommendations and policy proposals to be presented to the new Secretary-General.

1. Foster multilateral cooperation, including successful UN reform based on the Pact for the Future and Secretary-General’s UN80 Initiative

Multilateral cooperation and respect for international law are vital for Norway’s security, economy and welfare. Norway will continue to actively support the implementation of the Pact for the Future and the Secretary-General’s UN80 Initiative, and work to promote realistic, concrete reform measures that enjoy cross-regional support. Through the UN Global group, which consists of Norway, Mexico, Kenya, Senegal, Jordan, Indonesia, Singapore, Barbados and New Zealand, we will continue to seek broad support for viable, ambitious proposals to increase UN efficiency and effectiveness and safeguard the principles that are most important to Norway.

Norway will work to:

  • Restore trust in the multilateral system and counteract polarisation. Promote cooperation across traditional and regional divides.
  • Actively support the implementation of the Pact for the Future and the UN80 reforms, for example through the UN80 Global group. Support efforts to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of UN administration, the UN peace and security pillar, the human rights architecture and the UN development system in order to establish clear priorities between tasks and avoid duplication.
  • Secure more flexible and predictable financing. Promote results-based management of UN institutions, ensure that UN institutions have adequate funding and flexibility to fulfil their mandates, and foster effective resource management.
  • Promote system-wide coordination at country level through a nexus approach that recognises the interlinkages between peace operations, peacebuilding, humanitarian action and long-term development.
  • Promote more representative and inclusive multilateral cooperation. Increase the participation of civil society, and young people in particular.
  • Strengthen the relationship between the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Security Council. Foster close cooperation between the UN and other actors.
  • Play an active role in ensuring that the process to select a new Secretary-General is as transparent and inclusive as possible.
  • From January 2027, support the new Secretary-General, for example through the UN80 Global group. Build relationships and offer to help with the reform efforts, for instance by providing strategic support to the Executive Office of the Secretary-General.

2. Promote respect for international law and the international legal order 

For Norway, it is vital to maintain an international legal order that provides a clear and predictable framework for international cooperation. We are seeing an increasing lack of respect for international law. In intergovernmental negotiations, a number of countries are calling for wording that would risk weakening or undermining existing international law. At the same time, given the challenging geopolitical backdrop, it is encouraging that it has been possible to move forward from what for a long time had been a completely deadlocked situation and launch negotiations on a number of conventions. It is therefore important that Norway continues to work to preserve and promote respect for existing rules and obligations, and plays a constructive role in the work to codify international law and develop new rules.

Norway will work to:

  • Maintain a world order based on international law, including the principles set out in the UN Charter.Promote respect for and compliance with international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law.
  • Play a constructive role in discussions on the development and codification of international law.
  • Counter the narrative on double standards by working to ensure consistent, apolitical application of the principles and rules of international law.
  • Actively promote international dispute settlement mechanisms.
  • Strengthen and further develop the law of the sea as the basis for sound ocean management and the sustainable use of resources. Safeguard the position of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as the legal framework for all activity at sea. Support the implementation of the international marine biodiversity agreement (BBNJ Agreement), in particular in the run-up to the first Conference of the Parties.
  • Highlight the crucial importance of protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law for maintaining international peace and security and for paving the way for lasting solutions, political stability and economic welfare. Participate actively in discussions on issues relating to international humanitarian law.
  • Put forward joint Nordic proposals in the negotiations on a new convention on crimes against humanity.
  • Combat impunity for international crimes. Actively support the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an independent and impartial court of law. Voice clear criticism of sanctions and other attacks on the ICC and its staff.
  • Participate actively in discussions on the ILC’s annual reports, and ensure that the UN General Assembly takes steps to follow up the ILC’s work.
  • Actively promote and defend the fundamental principles set out in the UN Charter on states’ territorial integrity and their right to self-defence. Prevent and counter disinformation claiming that support to Ukraine from NATO and Europe undermines the principles of the UN Charter.
  • Strengthen the UN’s role in ensuring responsible management and maintenance of a safe and open internet and fostering globally coordinated governance of artificial intelligence and new technologies, and promote multi-stakeholder cooperation in this area.

3. Defend and strengthen human rights

Due to its mandate and unique position, the UN has a special responsibility to contribute to progress in the areas of democracy, anti-corruption, good governance and human rights. There has long been a failure to comply with international human rights obligations, especially in countries that have been moving away from democracy. Civil society representatives, journalists and human rights defenders in many countries are experiencing curtailment of their rights, including their freedom of expression, assembly and association. Women’s rights and gender equality, in particular sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the rights of LGBT+ people, are under pressure.

Norway will work to:

  • Strengthen and protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law, and incorporate a rights-based approach into all aspects of the UN’s work as a cross-cutting issue.
  • Promote and protect human rights defenders. Give particular priority to safeguarding freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion or belief, and workers’ rights.
  • Play a key role in facilitating the meaningful participation of civil society, human rights defenders and indigenous peoples in UN work and processes.
  • Combat discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), religion or belief, disability, ethnicity or other minority status.
  • Promote gender equality and women’s rights, and ensure that women’s rights and gender equality are integrated as a cross-cutting issue. Give particular priority to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and women’s right to equal economic and political participation.
  • Ensure that new technologies are developed and applied in line with established human rights standards.
  • Help to document and collect evidence of the most serious human rights violations to make it possible to hold perpetrators accountable and facilitate prosecution.

4. Enhance the UN’s capacity to build peace and prevent and resolve conflicts

The best way to promote peace and security, one of the three pillars of the UN, is through predictable international cooperation based on international law and the peaceful settlement of disputes. The UN plays a key role in this context, as the Pact for the Future makes clear.

Norway will work to:

  • Prevent, mitigate and resolve conflicts, and promote comprehensive UN efforts to support countries affected by conflict and fragility. Strengthen cooperation between the UN and other multilateral organisations, such as the World Bank, the regional development banks, and regional organisations, including the African Union (AU).
  • Support UN peace operations and the reform of UN peacekeeping. The follow-up of the review of UN peace operations, as mandated in the Pact for the Future and incorporated into the UN80 Initiative, will be important in this context.
  • Maintain the capacity of UN peace operations to protect civilians, including by providing support for political processes.
  • Support UN peace diplomacy efforts, with a focus on the active mediation efforts of the Secretary-General and his envoys, and the UN's ability to support inclusive peace processes based on established practices and norms. Ensure that the UN remains actively engaged in efforts to address conflicts and humanitarian crises. Create meeting places and foster dialogue between parties to conflict, under the auspices of the UN.
  • Promote active engagement in the UN peacebuilding architecture, and ensure that the UN Peacebuilding Commission fulfils its mandate to advise the General Assembly.
  • Give priority to the women, peace and security agenda. Increase the proportion of women participating at all levels of UN peace operations, as both civilian and military personnel. Strengthen women’s rights and participation in all phases of peace processes and at all decision-making levels.
  • Integrate climate-related security risks as a cross-cutting issue in UN peace and security efforts, in close collaboration with the countries that are most severely affected by the impacts of climate change.
  • Participate actively in UN efforts to prevent and combat transnational terrorism and violent extremism. Support UN efforts to combat transnational organised crime.

5. Continue to push for disarmament and non-proliferation

The General Assembly is a key arena for work on disarmament. The multilateral disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control architecture is under greater pressure than it has been for a very long time. The threat posed by nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction has increased in the wake of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and the situation in both North Korea and Iran is also having an impact on disarmament and non-proliferation efforts. Great power rivalry and heightened geopolitical tensions are eroding trust, impeding cooperation and undermining the willingness to compromise. Nor did the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) succeed in reaching consensus on an outcome document that reflects the states parties continued obligations to promote non-proliferation, disarmament and the peaceful use of nuclear technology. The need to protect existing multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation regimes is greater than it has been for many years. This also applies to humanitarian disarmament, where key instruments of humanitarian law such as the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and the Convention on Cluster Munitions have an important role to play in an increasingly challenging political and security environment.

Norway works to promote multilateral instruments that enhance international security. Norway actively supports processes that can bring countries closer together on this issue and engage the nuclear-weapon states. Efforts to promote nuclear disarmament and cooperation with countries both in and outside NATO aimed at achieving a world without nuclear weapons will be strengthened. Nuclear disarmament verification is essential for achieving this goal and the development of a credible multilateral verification regime is therefore vital. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will continue to be the cornerstone of the international disarmament and non-proliferation regime.

Norway will work to:

  • Maintain its leading role in the work to promote disarmament verification in a UN context, including by supporting the establishment of the UN expert panel (GSTE-NDV) and contributing to efforts to build disarmament verification capacity in the Global South.
  • Promote the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), including vis-à-vis countries that have not yet ratified the Treaty.
  • Actively highlight the importance of and ensure compliance with the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.
  • Support the further development of a UN-led legal order that promotes peaceful coexistence in outer space.
  • Increase support for the global framework for responsible state behaviour in cyberspace. Support initiatives aimed at creating a stronger common understanding of how existing international law applies to state activities in cyberspace.
  • Promote the adoption of an international instrument to regulate autonomous weapons systems that both reaffirms the ban on weapons systems that cannot be used in compliance with international humanitarian law and regulates the use of other types of weapons systems with autonomous functions, so as to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law.
  • Promote multilateral dialogue on nuclear disarmament and the principle of irreversibility as well as on risk reduction and arms control measures, and raise awareness of the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons.
  • Defend and explain the importance of export control as a tool for promoting non-proliferation and the peaceful use of sensitive technologies.
  • Support efforts to depolarise the disarmament debate.

6. Maintain the UN’s capacity to prevent and respond to humanitarian crises, and promote international cooperation on refugees and migrants

Norway will promote compliance with international humanitarian law and the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence in order to assist and protect people affected by humanitarian crises.

Norway will work to:

  • Ensure the continued delivery of principled humanitarian aid at a time when international humanitarian law is being challenged and funding is being reduced.
  • Secure broadest possible support for the ongoing reform of the humanitarian system with the aim of maximising the effectiveness of humanitarian efforts in light of the increase in needs and decline in funding.
  • Highlight the importance of prevention and early action in humanitarian crises to help combat hunger and reduce the humanitarian impacts of climate-related crises.
  • Give priority to the protection of civilians from violence and abuse, and reduce the gap between increasing humanitarian needs and available resources.
  • Enhance the protection of people affected by crisis and conflict, with a particular focus on sexual and gender-based violence, as well as on protection of children, young people, refugees and internally displaced people, and health and education institutions, and on protection against mines and other explosives, and on the impacts of war in urban areas.
  • Promote mine clearance and humanitarian disarmament, including mobilising support for and advancing the implementation of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences arising from the use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA Declaration).
  • Achieve a more effective and better coordinated response for refugees, displaced people and host communities, including strengthening responsibility sharing, promoting integrated approaches and actively supporting the inclusion of refugees and internally displaced people in national systems. Promote lasting solutions.
  • Promote humanitarian innovation and green humanitarian response as well as new working methods that increase effectiveness and deliver better results for people affected by crisis.

7. Advance the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, with particular emphasis on financing for development, poverty and inequality reduction, climate and environmental issues, energy, food security, gender equality, health, and the oceans

The 2030 Agenda is the world’s action plan for sustainable development. It integrates all three dimensions of sustainable development – the economic, social and environmental. The 2030 Agenda continues to guide Norway’s efforts. We are working to further develop national and global partnerships and strengthen cooperation with actors that can make constructive and innovative contributions.

Norway will work to:

  • Achieve consensus on policies that lead to more effective implementation of the SDGs, by providing constructive technical and strategic guidance on political commitments, priorities, flexible financing, joint initiatives and targeted partnerships.
  • Promote a nexus approach and improve coordination between humanitarian action, peacebuilding and long-term development efforts. Highlight the importance of a human rights-based approach.
  • Ensure that the conclusions and commitments made at various summits, such as the World Summit for Social Development, the SDG Summit, the Summit of the Future, the UN Ocean Conference, and the International Conference on Financing for Development are viewed as strategic tools for advancing the 2030 Agenda.

In particular, Norway will work to secure good results in the following areas:

a) Financing for Development and the fight against inequality 

  • Increase the focus on SDG 8 on promoting decent work and economic growth; SDG 1 on ending poverty; and SDG 10 on reducing inequality. Highlight women’s role in and contribution to delivering economic growth.
  • Promote effective cooperation between the UN system, international financial institutions and multilateral development banks.
  • Maintain a leadership role in the efforts to follow up the outcome document of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4). Give priority to issues such as domestic resource mobilisation, tax cooperation, private investment mobilisation, and the fight against illicit financial flows, corruption and tax crime.
  • Promote effective and inclusive international tax cooperation in connection with the UN’s efforts to develop a framework convention on this issue.
  • Give priority to combating inequality, including the establishment of an International Panel on Inequality.
  • Promote good governance, transparency and anti-corruption as the basis for democracy, trust and effective resource mobilisation. Follow up the Norwegian-led resolution on transparency in the funding of political parties.
  • Push for constructive and viable reforms to promote effective handling of government debt crises, as part of the work to follow up the FFD4 outcome document. Advocate full transparency on debt and promote responsible borrowing and lending practices.
  • Promote digital cooperation to reduce the digital gap within developing countries and between developed and developing countries, as champion of the Digital Public Goods Alliance.
  • Highlight the need for more effective, better coordinated and less fragmented development assistance, through the use of core support rather than earmarked aid, where possible.

b) Climate, environment and clean energy

  • Defend and promote the climate agenda and counter attempts to diminish the importance of climate action as an international priority in multilateral forums and international cooperation.
  • Encourage countries to submit more ambitious nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
  • Mobilise finance for the development of renewable energy and climate technology in developing countries.
  • Highlight the need for international cooperation to ensure universal access to modern energy, including for clean cooking.
  • Continue work on climate change adaptation and loss and damage.
  • Take an integrated approach to the triple planetary crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution). Put disaster risk reduction and biodiversity on the international agenda.
  • Promote the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework. 
  • Seek to enhance the effectiveness of climate finance and make it more accessible to the most vulnerable countries.
  • Support international climate and environmental efforts in areas where Norway has comparative advantages and can help to create jobs. These areas include: renewable energy development, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, offshore wind, green shipping, as well as sustainable ocean management and seabed mapping.

c) Gender equality – which leads to greater freedom, welfare and democracy

  • Continue to implement Norway's Action Plan for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality in Foreign and Development Policy, and integrate gender equality as a cross-cutting issue in our efforts to reach all the SDGs.
  • Highlight the need to strengthen economic and political rights. Give priority to the efforts to promote women’s participation at all levels of decision-making in the labour market, business, the political arena and in governance.
  • Strengthen women’s right to decide over their own bodies, by stepping up efforts on this issue and seeking to establish new alliances. Enhance protection against violence and harmful practices.
  • Improve women’s and girls’ access to education, digital technology/training and health services.
  • Seek to prevent setbacks in women’s rights and actively promote the implementation of, and compliance with, international and national obligations relating to the promotion of women’s participation.

d) Good health – which is vital for sustainable development, and for global and Norwegian health security

  • Work to build robust health systems based on effective universal primary health care services.
  • Support the establishment of international norms and standards, mobilise funding and protect global public goods, across regional groups of countries.

e) Clean and healthy oceans – which are crucial to human survival

  • Give high priority to the two annual General Assembly resolutions on oceans and the law of the sea and on sustainable fisheries, respectively.
  • Give priority to the work to put in place a global agreement on combating plastic pollution and marine litter.
  • Support knowledge-based ocean management and the UN Decade of Ocean Science.
  • Highlight the relevance of the work of the Ocean Panel for UN member states.
  • Increase international recognition of the importance of the oceans for the economy, food security, energy production and job creation, and of the need to promote sustainable use of marine resources.
  • Enhance coordination between the UN’s ocean-related efforts and the ongoing work under the UN Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity.