The UN General Assembly President has recommended that heads of state and government and ministers address the UNGA session in September through pre-recorded video statements as Covid-19-related restrictions on international travel and large in-person meetings are likely to be in place in the coming months. The new format will mean that it will be for the first time in the world organisation's 75-year history that heads of state and governments will not gather in New York for the UNGA session.
Reason behind this move

• Social distancing requirements and restrictions on movement also have dramatic consequences for the functioning of the 15-member Security Council and the 193-member General Assembly, the two most important bodies in the multilateral system. 
• The Security Council has been working via video conference since the end of March, after an initial two-week period of “paralysis,” as one diplomatic source put it. 
• The shift to telework has not prevented the council from making a number of important procedural decisions, such as the prolongation of mandates for peacekeeping missions. 
• But the procedure for remotely casting and verifying votes is much more complicated than in-person voting. 
• During in-person meetings, voting is a matter of just a few minutes, as it takes place by a show of hands. 
• Currently, the remote voting process takes up to three days.

What are the steps taken?

• The General Assembly, meanwhile, has yet to implement a formal electronic voting system because some members still resist it. 
• This means the body cannot adopt resolutions through its usual voting procedure, and can only pass resolutions that have the consensus of all member states, meaning only minimal compromises are possible. 
• Powerful members like China and Russia—but also some Western states, including the U.S.—seem comfortable with a situation where they don’t need to confront General Assembly resolutions that go against their interests.
• Several diplomats also confirmed to World Politics Review that the annual high-level meetings of the General Assembly, in which world leaders convene in New York every fall, will probably not be held this year in its usual form. 
• While no formal decision has been made, it will likely shift to some kind of online format.

Historical Background

• The General Assembly is the world's largest diplomatic gathering, and entails hundreds of side events and bilateral or multilateral meetings of world leaders.
• It has never been cancelled since the United Nations was founded in 1945.
• But it has been postponed twice: in 2001 because of the September 11 attacks in the United States, and in 1964 because of a financial crisis.

What is Multilateral Diplomacy?

• Multilateral diplomacy is a complex process, and its success depends on interpersonal relationships that are forged during numerous formal and informal gatherings, including conferences, lunches and receptions. 
• During difficult negotiations, the most sensitive sticking points are often ironed out informally, in corridors or lounges.

Road Ahead

• The situation is similar at the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which runs a monitoring mission in Ukraine. Urgent decisions are pending before the organization’s leadership, like term extensions for four top positions, including the secretary-general. 
• While these challenges will continue to make multilateral negotiations difficult, diplomats also concede that it is necessary to adopt and even retain some online tools in a post-pandemic environment.