From the SDG Media Zone, Dr. Raven Baxter reports on UN General Assembly week

I reported on the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York from Sept. 18 to 24, 2026. I covered the SDG Media Zone at UN Headquarters and the Unstoppable Africa business forum for my audience.

"Your science degree can take you places you never imagined. This is one of them," I wrote on Instagram on Sept. 21.

The 81st session, which brings together all 193 member states, opened under the theme "Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all." The general debate ran Sept. 22 to 28. According to UN News, 194 speakers took the floor, including 113 heads of state and government. Brookings noted that Africa makes up 54 of those 193 member states but has no permanent seat on the Security Council.

I framed my week as public science learning. "I'm going full sponge mode, soaking up everything I can about sustainability and global impact so I can bring it back to you in a way that makes sense and gets you moving," I wrote.

Baxter at the PVBLIC Foundation press briefing in the SDG Media Zone on Sept. 18. Photo courtesy of Dr. Raven Baxter

On Sept. 18, I attended PVBLIC Foundation's press briefing in the Media Zone tent.

On Sept. 20, I went to Unstoppable Africa at the New York Marriott Marquis on a media badge. The forum calls itself "the leading African-convened business forum outside the continent." According to the UN Global Compact, which organized the forum, it was convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.

Baxter, right, at Unstoppable Africa at the New York Marriott Marquis on Sept. 20. Photo courtesy of Dr. Raven Baxter

"I'm also seeing a lot of world leaders here who are very much invested in making sure that Africa as a continent is very much a part of global story of the future and innovation," I told viewers in a reel filmed there.

I interviewed Michael Dones of Inovi, Inc., which develops data centers and AI infrastructure in Africa. A statistic shared at the forum put Africa at about 1 percent of the world's data center infrastructure. "Given that data centers right now are having a negative reputation, what do you think is the biggest misconception that you encounter in the work that you're doing?" I asked.

"Most of that negative sentiment is around the hyperscale," Dones answered. He pointed to data centers of more than 20 megawatts that take "a lot of energy and water and resources." His company focuses on smaller, right-sized sites. "A data center close to home means faster internet for local businesses, schools and hospitals," I wrote in my caption.

On Sept. 24, I returned to the SDG Media Zone. I sat in on "From Invisible Majorities to Unstoppable Movements: What Can Climate Initiatives Learn?" Melissa Fleming, head of the UN Department of Global Communications, spoke with Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry and Jeremy Heimans of Purpose. Their topic was how movements grow once people learn their neighbors share their views.

Melissa Fleming moderates a session on climate movements at the SDG Media Zone on Sept. 24. Baxter is not pictured. Photo courtesy of Dr. Raven Baxter

I stayed for the closing session, the launch of "Cool Me Down," a new Sounds Right track by the hip-hop duo EARTHGANG. The session, with experts from the UN, UN Live and the Wellcome Trust, examined links among extreme heat, climate and health, according to the programme.

The UN Department of Global Communications runs the SDG Media Zone with PVBLIC Foundation. Its UNGA 81 edition marked 10 years, with 46 sessions and 110 speakers, according to PVBLIC. "This space exists to widen the conversation, share what works and build the political and financial will to act," Guterres said in a video message.

My Unstoppable Africa reel is on Instagram. Recordings of the sessions are on the SDG Media Zone programme page.