Sixty-ninth General Assembly

Plenary

1^st Meeting (PM)

General Assembly President, Opening Sixty-Ninth Session, Says ‘Dedication

 

and Single-Mindedness of Purpose and Compromise’ Can Achieve Great Things

 

Calling for Action, Secretary-General Anticipates ‘Most Consequential’

Session in Generation as He Urges Attention to Rising Tide of Intolerance

Despite an unprecedented array of such weighty challenges as poverty, armed conflicts and climate change, the international community could achieve great things with dedication and single-mindedness of purpose and compromise, said the new President of the General Assembly this afternoon as he opened its sixty-ninth session.

“The coming year will be a momentous time for the United Nations,” said Sam Kutesa (Uganda), as it would mark the seventieth anniversary of its founding and 15 years since the adoption of the Millennium Declaration, among other milestones.  The current session would be “very busy”, with Member States preoccupied with intergovernmental negotiations on a post-2015 development agenda.  In addition, preparations and negotiations were under way towards an outcome for the third Conference on Financing for Development in July 2015 in Addis Ababa, and an agreement on climate change under the United Nations Framework Convention. 

Noting the theme of the general debate, “Delivering on and Implementing a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda”, he stressed the need to ensure that the new development agenda was truly transformative, with the eradication of poverty and hunger and the promotion of sustained and inclusive economic growth as its overarching objectives.  To that end, he would convene three high-level thematic debates and one high-level event, although those debates would not preempt or prejudge the outcome of the ongoing intergovernmental negotiations.

The first such debate, slated for February 2015, would be on the means of implementation for the post-2015 development agenda.  The second one, to be held in March, would focus on advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women in the post-2015 development agenda.  The third would be held in April or May and address the peaceful settlement of disputes and strengthening cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations.

A high-level event on combating climate change would be held in June to give momentum and added impetus to efforts to reaching a global agreement, he said.  His presidency would also seek to revitalize the General Assembly and reform the Security Council.

“To say we are living in tumultuous times would seem an understatement,” he said, citing such daunting challenges as poverty and hunger; persistent unemployment; violent armed conflicts; faltering education systems; climate change and rising sea-levels; inadequate infrastructure; dire health threats like Ebola; and a rise in polarization, extremism and terrorist activities.  Those formidable challenges must be tackled with a sense of resolve and resilience over the next 12 months, he urged.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Assembly would focus on stemming the existential threat of climate change, advancing the rights and opportunities of the world’s indigenous people, improving the health of women and girls, tackling the deadly Ebola virus, and addressing today’s many peace and security challenges.  He urged the international community to work together to accelerate progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, establish a set of sustainable development goals and an agenda to erase extreme poverty in the next 15 years, as well as to create a greener, cleaner planet, make human rights a top priority, and promote peace and security worldwide for everyone.

“The coming year must be a time for action.  A time for results,” he said, stressing that the session could be the “most consequential” in and for a generation.  The Assembly’s eyes also must be open to the rising tide of intolerance and serve as the ultimate rebuke to that distorted, venomous view of the world.  In an interconnected world, the best way to solve problems was by working together in a more determined way than ever before.  “By being here, you have shown your commitment to that twenty-first century truth and command.  Now let us prove it through principled and effective action,” he said.

In other business today, the Assembly took note of a letter from the Secretary-General (document A/69/374) informing the Assembly President that five Member States were behind in payments of financial contributions to the Organization under the Charter’s Article 19, which says that a Member State in arrears will have no vote in the Assembly if the amount of those arrears exceeds the amount of the contributions due from the preceding two years.

The Assembly also decided that its Credentials Committee for the sixty-ninth session would comprise Brazil, China, Bangladesh, Denmark, Jamaica, Namibia, Senegal, Russian Federation and the United States.   

Assembly members then authorized 11 of its subsidiary organs to meet at Headquarters during the session, as follows:  the Preparatory Committee for the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Development (Habitat III); Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee for the 10-year Review Conference on the Implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action; Panel of External Auditors of the United Nations, the Specialized Agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Board of Auditors; Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; Disarmament Commission; Independent Audit Advisory Committee; Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women); Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People; Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA); and the Committee on Relations with the Host Country.  

The General Assembly will meet again at a date and time to be announced.

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For information media • not an official record