General Assembly

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the United Nations Association (UNA) of the United Kingdom on the eightieth anniversary of the General Assembly, in London today:

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ briefing to the General Assembly meeting on the priorities of the Organization for 2026, in New York today:

“Do not be bystanders to injustice and impunity,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres implored delegates today, speaking candidly as he presented the Organization’s priorities for 2026 to the General Assembly.

Emerging from complex negotiations, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today approved the United Nations programme budget for 2026, totalling $3.45 billion, as they concluded the main part of their eightieth session. The budget largely reflects the Secretary-General’s proposed 15 per cent reduction in financial resources and a nearly 19 per cent cut in staffing.

Following complex negotiations in its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the General Assembly today adopted the United Nations programme budget for 2026 — totalling $3.45 billion — as it concluded the main part of its eightieth session.

The General Assembly today appointed former Iraqi President Barham Ahmed Salih as the new head of the United Nations refugee agency and adopted 35 texts emerging from its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks, delivered by Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, to the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the anniversary of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, in New York today:

The General Assembly today adopted, without a vote, the outcome document of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society.

Ministers from around the world today underscored the role of the UN in creating a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented digital future as the General Assembly took stock of the implementation of commitments made at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

The General Assembly took action on dozens of draft resolutions and decisions emerging from its Third (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural), Second (Economic, Financial) and Sixth (Legal) Committees today, defying slowdowns caused by protracted procedural wrangling that threatened to reshape the day’s proceedings.