The General Debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly opened on Tuesday with the theme of "The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism -- confronting COVID-19 through effective multilateral action."

Volkan Bozkir, president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, presided over the opening of the debate.

In his opening remarks, he called on world leaders to reaffirm multilateralism in face of the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19. He also called for the buildup of UN agencies, including the World Health Organization.

This year, world leaders are unable to travel to New York for the high-level week due to COVID-19. Instead, their pre-recorded statements were played in the General Assembly Hall, which can hold some 2,500 people. Yet only about 200 delegates are allowed to be physically present.