United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has said action is what the world needs now, and this is not a time for posturing or positioning.

At a press conference on Wednesday, ahead of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Guterres expressed his condolences and solidarity with all those affected by a devastating earthquake in Morocco earlier this month and floods in Libya.

He said the UN was mobilizing to support relief efforts and "we will work in any and every way we can with partners to help get emergency assistance to those who so desperately need it."

"In recent days, I have attended a number of gatherings of various groupings of world leaders. In Nairobi, to focus on climate solutions in Africa. In Jakarta, to strengthen our partnership with Southeast Asian nations. In New Delhi, for a summit of G20 leaders. And tomorrow in Havana, to meet with leaders of the G77 and China. But next week begins the greatest G of all – the G193 – the High-Level Week of the General Assembly. It is a one-of-a-kind moment each year for leaders from every corner of the globe to not only assess the state of the world – but to act for the common good.

"We will be gathering at a time when humanity faces huge challenges – from the worsening climate emergency to escalating conflicts, the global cost-of-living crisis, soaring inequalities and dramatic technological disruptions. People are looking to their leaders for a way out of this mess. Yet in the face of all this and more, geopolitical divisions are undermining our capacity to respond.

"So to bring our multipolar world together, we need strong, reformed multilateral institutions, anchored in the United Nations Charter and international law."

In addition, Guterres said, next week the UN would also shine a spotlight on how to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals at the halfway mark to 2030.

"My appeal to world leaders will be clear: This is not a time for posturing or positioning. This is not a time for indifference or indecision. This is a time to come together for real, practical solutions. It is time for compromise for a better tomorrow."