The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the opening of the General Debate of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 24, 2019. (Photo: Xinhua)

2020's United Nations (UN) General Assembly will be held virtually for the first time in history since the UN was founded in 1945 because of the coronavirus pandemic, its president announced on Wednesday.

The meeting is still scheduled for September 22-29 but will be carried out with previously recorded speeches by world leaders, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, who is from Nigeria, said in a letter to UN member countries.

"I surmise that the limitations on international travel and convening of large in-person meetings as a result of the coronavirus disease pandemic, may, in varying degrees, still be in effect in September 2020," Muhammad-Bande wrote in the letter.

Member states must send the UN an embargoed speech of up to 15 minutes by their president, prime minister, some government minister or UN ambassador at least five days before the assembly, he said.

And a diplomat from each mission can attend a real life session during which the speeches will be broadcast or read aloud from the podium of the UN assembly hall.

In May, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it was unlikely that world leaders could meet in September as planned, because of the global health crisis.

AFP