There was a different vibe at the U.N. General Assembly. 5 attendees weigh in

Global wellness leaders from astir nan world came to nan United Nations this week for high-level meetings — their first clip connecting astatine a U.N. arena successful nan aftermath of nan melodramatic U.S. overseas assistance cuts. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/via Getty Images hide caption

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Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/via Getty Images

NEW YORK — It's nan first United Nations General Assembly since President Donald Trump shook up nan overseas assistance scenery by cutting billions of dollars successful assistance.

"There's a batch of anxiety, apprehension. It's almost for illustration everybody's waiting for nan different footwear to drop," says Solomon Zewdu, nan CEO of The END Fund, a group that focuses connected eliminating neglected tropical diseases.

He's 1 of thousands of group from each complete nan world who descended connected Manhattan for a week of high-level meetings astatine nan 80th convention of nan U.N. General Assembly.

NPR reporters were connected nan crushed successful New York and said pinch world wellness leaders astir their impressions of nan week. Here's what they told america – edited for magnitude and clarity.

Dr. Solomon Zewdu says it's urgent to prosecute successful speech astir world wellness needs: "What's nan adjacent step? Let's move on. There's urgency. Time kills people." Gabrielle Emanuel/NPR hide caption

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Gabrielle Emanuel/NPR

Solomon Zewdu, nan CEO of The END Fund

Dr. Solomon Zewdu is based successful South Africa and he says nan point that struck him astir this General Assembly is that world wellness leaders are "talking successful silos."

"We're not proceeding each other," he says. Some are having conversations astir really limited countries are connected aid, while others are lamenting nan cuts.

"But now, what's nan adjacent step? Let's move on. There's urgency. Time kills people," he says.

He's acrophobic "everybody's going to scatter, and past we mightiness hold for nan adjacent acme to hap — and, successful between, group dying, people's wellness is being compromised."

Varnee Murugan sees logic for optimism successful nan Trump administration's caller overseas assistance roadmap. U.S. Chamber of Commerce hide caption

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Varnee Murugan, elder head of nan Global Initiative connected Health and nan Economy astatine nan U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Murugan near nan General Assembly enthused by nan new U.S. world wellness strategy and its accent connected bringing private-sector companies backmost into nan world wellness arena.

"In nan past, nan backstage assemblage has been seen as, successful immoderate cases, tangential, successful different cases, arsenic an opponent," she says.

She argues for-profit businesses person a batch to offer. "There is nan bottommost statement — and that's ever going to beryllium — but location are besides broader objectives."

She says they person a batch of knowledge to lend arsenic good arsenic nan expertise to "really thief section economies turn and prosper and past modulation distant from assistance and much towards sustainable trade."

Atul Satija: "What keeps maine up astatine nighttime is: Do we person nan abstraction and nan quiet to do nan activity we want to do?" Fatma Tanis/NPR hide caption

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Fatma Tanis/NPR

Atul Satija, CEO of nan Nudge Institute 

Atul Satija lives successful India, wherever he leads a non-profit statement that addresses poorness successful his country. He says he senses a quality successful nan U.N. arena this year.

"The value of conversations is somewhat deeper," says Satija. "It is simply a batch astir nan problems that we are facing globally, and really we tin collectively lick them. So I americium enjoying it because it's a batch much real."

With group astir nan world losing wellness attraction and acquisition opportunities because of nan U.S. cuts, Staija says that "people are figuring retired caller ways to creation solutions truthful that communities are not affected arsenic much."

But he is besides troubled by what nan early mightiness hold: "What keeps maine up astatine nighttime is: Do we person nan abstraction and nan quiet to do nan activity we want to do?"

Peter Sands, CEO of nan Global Fund

Peter Sands says this year's General Assembly feels a spot for illustration being connected a "high wire."

"This is, kinda, of infinitesimal of reckoning. On nan antagonistic side: There person been cuts successful funding, disruptions to services. But connected nan affirmative side: We've sewage immoderate extraordinarily breathtaking technological innovations," he says. "There's a batch to lose, but there's besides a batch to achieve."

His mind is focused connected nan money spot of nan equation. The Global Fund is engaged trying to raise money for its adjacent 3 twelvemonth cycle. And, afterall, Sands is simply a erstwhile banker — he was nan CEO of Standard Chartered PLC, 1 of nan world's awesome world banks.

"As personification who spent a batch of my life doing return connected investment, investing successful world wellness is 1 of nan highest return connected finance things you tin do," he says, pointing to nan economical maturation and wellness gains that travel from fighting diseases.

Jackie Aldrette, executive head of AVSI-USA

Jackie Aldrette hasn't been to a U.N. General Assembly successful years. But this time, she felt it was important to attend.

Her U.S.-based organization, which supports marginalized communities astir nan world, is 1 of galore assistance groups that mislaid backing because of nan U.S. cuts.

"I came wanting to benignant of summation much clarity astir what we should attraction on," says Aldrette.

"I decidedly felt a benignant of this caller energy," she says. "Like a occurrence underneath successful position of uncovering ways of moving for nan causes we attraction about, and nan realization that it's amended to do that together."

Her favourite infinitesimal of nan week? "I recovered myself successful speech pinch personification from a very well-established organization, pinch whom I was capable to conscionable stock a benignant of dream I've been cooking up and she sewage excited and shared pinch maine her dream," she says. "And so, we were benignant of dreaming together."

She besides had an epiphany astir nan U.S. assistance cuts: "It feels for illustration nan U.S. doesn't person a spot astatine nan array anymore," Aldrette says. "But location was besides dream because it wasn't for illustration nan deficiency of U.S. beingness meant nan array collapsed. No, we were still astatine that table, truthful we tin spell on."