Opening Landmark Seventieth Session of General Assembly, Incoming President Calls for Concerted Action against Crises Besetting Humanity

The historic seventieth session of the United Nations General Assembly must be one marked by concerted action against war, violent extremism, poverty, climate change and the many other crises besetting humanity, said the Assembly’s incoming President as he opened the session’s first meeting today.

“In less than 10 days’ time, our leaders will gather in this hall to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” said Mogens Lykketoft (Denmark), calling that agreement both “seminal” and “revolutionary”, as well as a “welcome gift” to a struggling world.

In signing up to the 2030 Agenda, Governments would voluntarily commit to take action for the dignity, security, prosperity and the human rights of our shared humanity, he said.  “It raises high hopes of the United Nations being fit for purpose and committed to action.”

The challenge now, and a top priority for his presidency, was to ensure that all actors swiftly delivered on the promises being made.  The upcoming Sustainable Development Summit only marked the beginning.  There was an urgent need for action across the three pillars of the United Nations and ample opportunities to take such action during the upcoming session.

At the upcoming Paris meeting, for example, an ambitious and universal climate agreement was “an absolute must”.  The United Nations and its Member States also had a strong obligation to work together to end catastrophic wars and conflicts in and around Syria, the broader Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Listing other priorities of his presidency, he said that he would continue efforts to revitalize the General Assembly and to respond to the continued interest of many Member States to reform the Security Council and create more transparency and openness when selecting the next Secretary-General.

Throughout his tenure, he would hold a series of high-level thematic debates dedicated to the implementation of commitments relating to sustainable development, climate change and financing, the strengthening of the United Nations role and performance in the area of peace and security, and human rights.  “It is my hope that these events can help us to identify pragmatic and action-oriented outcomes in each area,” he said.

It was in some respects hard to believe that the United Nations had existed for seven decades, he said, for, despite significant evolution and many achievements, “the United Nations has more to learn, much more to give and much, much more to do to fulfil its mandate under the Charter and to bring about the world envisaged by the 2030 Agenda”.

Taking the floor to describe other upcoming priorities, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Assembly would deepen its discussions on his new report on the future of United Nations peace operations, and on the review of the peacebuilding architecture.  Those efforts, along with the 15-year review of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security, could strengthen collective responses at a critical time.

A number of milestones were on the 2016 calendar, he said, noting that a high-level Assembly debate on the world drug problem was slated to take place in April and he encouraged States to arrive at common solutions on how to address that threat.  In addition, the Habitat III Conference in October would showcase “what works” and steer the world’s cities and settlements onto a more sustainable path.  In May, the World Humanitarian Summit would be held at a time when nearly 60 million people had been displaced by conflict and violence — more than at any other time since the Second World War.

Further, he said, human suffering and economic loss from natural disasters were rising.  And yet, around one third of humanitarian funding requirements for 2015 had been met.  “Your leadership is critical to make the changes that are needed to address pressing humanitarian challenges and build a safer world for all,” he stressed, urging full support for the Summit process.

Recalling that the current session marked the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, he said the Charter’s principles had stood the test of time and the Organization could look back on a record of achievement.  At the same time, suffering remained widespread.  His thoughts today were especially with the people of Syria — those inside the country facing violence and those who had fled, seeking a safe haven.

“This seventieth Assembly session must be one of compassion, prevention, and above all, action,” he stressed.  He looked forward to providing full support to the new Assembly President, and to all Member States, in upholding collective responsibilities to today’s and succeeding generations.

In other business today, the Assembly took note of a letter from the Secretary-General (document A/70/374) informing the Assembly President that five Member States were in arrears in respect of their financial contributions to the Organization under Article 19 of the Charter.  Article 19 states that a Member State in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions 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 seventieth session would comprise Argentina, Austria, Barbados, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, South Africa and the United States.

Assembly members then authorized the following subsidiary organs of the General Assembly to meet at United Nations Headquarters during the session:  the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the Disarmament Commission, the Committee on Relations with the Host Country, the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, and the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (document A/70/366).

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