General Assembly Commemorates Slave Trade Remembrance, Adopts Resolutions on Conflict Diamonds, High-Level Talks on Rohingya
The General Assembly today adopted resolutions on a range of topics, from the role of diamonds in fuelling conflict to a high-level conference on Rohingya in Myanmar, while also holding a special event to pay tribute to the 15 million men, women and children from Africa who were trafficked into slavery.
Conflict Diamonds
The resolution on “The role of diamonds in fuelling conflict: breaking the link between the illicit transaction of rough diamonds and armed conflict as a contribution to prevention and settlement of conflicts” (document A/79/L.63) was adopted without a vote, following the United States’ unsuccessful bid to remove four paragraphs that refer to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.
An overwhelming majority — 144 Member States — voted in favour of retaining those paragraphs, defeating two negative votes cast by the United States and Argentina. Six delegations — Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, Libya, Maldives, Panama and Paraguay — abstained on the vote.
By its terms, the Assembly reaffirmed the importance of the tripartite nature of the Kimberley Process and stressed that the widest possible participation in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is essential.
The Kimberley Process, an international certification scheme for rough diamonds, is open to all countries, and began when southern African diamond-producing States met in Kimberley, South Africa, in May 2000, to discuss ways to tackle the financing of violence by armed movements through the illicit diamond trade.
Introducing the text, the representative of the United Arab Emirates said the current resolution reflects a “shared commitment to fostering a sustainable and responsible diamond industry that benefits millions around the world”. The representative of the European Union, speaking in its capacity as observer, voiced support for reforming the Kimberley Process. Unfortunately, due to lack of consensus, “the definition of conflict diamonds remains very narrow”, she said, stressing the need to ensure the Process remains relevant and credible in a changing world. The Russian Federation’s delegation, however, rejecting the pressure from Western countries to unilaterally filter the diamonds that are entering the main market, said the attempt by consumer countries to deliberately thwart tried and tested multilateral mechanisms is reckless and incompetent.
High-Level Meeting on Rohingya in Myanmar
The Assembly also adopted, by a recorded vote of 141 in favour to 0 against, with 10 abstentions, a resolution on “Scope, modalities, format and organization of the High-level conference on Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar” (document A/79/L.67).
By its terms, the Assembly decided to hold the High-level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar, in New York on 30 September 2025. The text also detailed the organizational arrangements of the Conference, including the opening segment which will feature statements by the President of the Assembly, the Secretary-General, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other relevant stakeholder representatives.
Prior to its adoption, three amendments proposed by the Russian Federation’s delegate were rejected in recorded votes.
Draft amendment L.68 (document A/79/L.68) — which would have deleted references to human rights issues and efforts to create a conducive environment for the voluntary, safe, sustainable and dignified return of Rohingya Muslims — was rejected by a recorded vote of 7 in favour (Belarus, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ethiopia, Iran, Nicaragua, Russian Federation) to 103 against, with 24 abstentions.
Draft amendment “L.69” (document A/79/L.69) — which would have blocked the participation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the conference — was not adopted by a recorded vote of seven in favour (Belarus, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ethiopia, Iran, Nicaragua, Russian Federation) to 96 against, with 32 abstentions.
Draft amendment “L.70” (document A/79/L.70) — which would have retained the power of a Member State to block the participation of certain civil society actors — was also not adopted by a recorded vote of 14 in favour to 80 against, with 40 abstentions.
Introducing them, the Russian Federation’s speaker said the goal of this resolution should have been determining modalities for the high-level conference. However, it has gone far beyond these goals and essentially has transformed into a country-specific resolution on human rights, he said.
However, Myanmar’s delegate said the Rohingya issue must be comprehensively addressed. “The world has witnessed the crimes and atrocities the military junta has committed,” both on the Rohingya population and other minorities. Repatriation of the refugees will not be possible “if we are unable to put an end to the military junta committing indiscriminate airstrikes and aerial bombings”, he warned.
Bangladesh’s delegate said that his country would like the Rohingyas to return to their own country. The problem originated in Myanmar and the solution lies there as well, he said, calling for a timebound plan for the repatriation of the large number of refugees.
The delegate from Belarus, however, criticized the initial resolution for being drafted behind closed doors, with only two rounds of “clearly insufficient” open consultations. The document is another attempt to establish a tribunal against Myanmar, he said. China's representative, who abstained from voting on the initial text, also expressed concerns about the draft text's excessive focus on human rights in Myanmar.
Decade of Action on Nutrition
Also adopted today, by a recorded vote of 158 in favour to 1 against (United States), with 0 abstentions, was a text on “Implementation of the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025)” (document A/79/L.66). By its terms, the Assembly urged Member States to make food security, food safety and nutrition a high priority and also decided to extend the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025) to 2030, to align it with the 2030 Agenda.
“The resolution to be adopted today is much more than an extension of a deadline,” said the representative of Brazil, also speaking for France, as he introduced that text. It is a renewed commitment to fighting together against a global scourge, he said.
The representative of the United States, who called for a vote on the text, said it contains terms and concepts that promote “advance harmful gender ideology and defiance of biological reality”, both of which conflict with his country’s policies. He also rejected the climate change language in the text.
Poland’s delegate, speaking after the vote, expressed regret about the divisive politicization of this text, “much of which is based on years of precedence and agreed languages”. During negotiations, the European Union called for the strengthening of language on the disproportionate impact of food insecurity on women and girls, she said. The representatives of Iran and the Russian Federation expressed concern about contentious gender terminology in the text.
Review of Information Society Summit Outcomes
The Assembly also adopted, without a vote, a text on “Modalities for the overall review by the General Assembly of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society” (document A/79/L.62), by which it decided that the review will be concluded by a two-day high-level meeting on 16 and 17 December to be preceded by an intergovernmental preparatory process.
Argentina’s delegate, speaking in explanation of position, dissociated from paragraphs not in line with his country’s foreign policy. Israel’s delegate dissociated from operative paragraphs three and five, which “introduced language that attempts to create special modalities for political purposes”.
Remembrance of Slave Trade Victims
Also today, the Assembly held its commemorative meeting to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Philemon Yang (Cameroon), President of the General Assembly, called on the international community to confront the legacy of slavery and “reflect on the moral urgency of dismantling that legacy”. “We must strengthen and enforce laws that promote equity in housing, employment, healthcare, education and criminal justice,” he said.
Secretary-General António Guterres noted that when slavery was abolished, it was not the enslaved who were compensated, but the enslavers — receiving reparations equivalent to billions of dollars in today’s money. “In an even crueller twist, some slaves were forced to pay compensation,” he said, underscoring that reparatory justice frameworks must be grounded in international human rights law.
Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize-winning playwright and novelist, said reparations must be approached “symbolically, gesturally”. He proposed a dynamic monument — a “heritage voyage of return” — which will travel around the world, housing artifacts looted from the African continent but since returned, as well as films, documentaries, installations, manuscript collections and music from the African continent and diaspora.
Salome Agbaroji, National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, asked those Member States who have not yet formally acknowledged their part in the transatlantic slave trade to “acknowledge us enough to be the recipient of your remorse” and “assign dollar values to your ethical debt”.
Fiji’s delegate, speaking for the Asia-Pacific States, drew attention to modern-day slavery — over 50 million people today are estimated to live in conditions of contemporary slavery, due to armed conflicts, natural hazards, climate change, sea-level rise, pollution and environmental degradation, among other reasons. The representative of Equatorial Guinea, speaking on behalf of the African Group, said: “As envoys of the African continent, we renew our pledge to eradicate contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons.”
Suriname’s delegate, speaking on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean States, paid tribute to the Indigenous people who suffered and perished due to the transatlantic slave trade, while Greece’s representative, speaking on behalf of the Western European and other States, added: “The wrongs of the past cannot be undone, but we can learn from them.”