Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) and John Ashe, President of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Photo:UN

(VOVworld)- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President John W.Ashe co-chaired the opening ceremony of the UN General Assembly 68^th session. 193 member countries and international organizations attended the opening session. Mr.Ashe, former UN Ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda stressed the need to create a foundation for sustainable global development after the current targets end in 2015. “The Post 2015 Development Agenda: Setting the Stage”, the theme for the 68th General Assembly, was agreed on by member countries. This session, which will run until September, 2014, will cover 174 discussion topics and include 5 high-level meetings. The UN General Assembly will focus on maintaining peace and international security, resolving issues from previous sessions, ending the conflict in Syria, and preventing new outbreaks of violence.