Established in 1945, the General Assembly of the United Nations occupies a central position as the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the Organization. It provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter. In line with this year’s General Assembly session, with its General Debate beginning on 21 September 2021, UNAI has produced a series of video interviews with young staff working for the Permanent Missions to the United Nations and for the Organization.
Maria Alriachy, an Arabic Interpreter working at the UN Department for General Assembly and Conference Management and a Lebanese national, emphasized the importance of multilingualism. "We make sure that all speeches are interpreted into all 6 official languages," she explains.
"It makes you feel very proud, it make you feel that you are part of the decision-making process," she says regarding the relevance of her work. "Now that I have been here for 6 years, I want to say that I am starting to get used to it, but still has that kind of feeling of: Oh my God I can't believe I'm here!," she adds.