NICE, FRANCE, 9 June — The ocean is in crisis, but recovery is still possible if the world acts urgently, speakers told an international conference today on the shores of the Mediterranean, as they underscored the ocean’s essential role in sustaining life — from producing oxygen to supporting billions of people and enabling global trade.
While the world is tantalizingly close to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030, the risk of backsliding is great due to shortfalls in funding, lack of political will and intersecting inequalities, the General Assembly heard today.
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today approved without a vote a draft resolution to advance the comprehensive review under way of peacekeeping operations by the Special Committee dedicated to peacekeeping.
The General Assembly elected a total of 20 new members to the Economic and Social Council today who will begin their terms on 1 January 2026.
The General Assembly today elected Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Latvia and Liberia as non-permanent members of the Security Council for a two-year term beginning on 1 January 2026.
Pledging to serve the international community as “an honest broker and unifier”, Annalena Baerbock of Germany was elected as President of the upcoming session of the United Nations General Assembly — the fifth woman to serve in that post in 80 years.
The Security Council today adopted the draft of its annual report to the General Assembly, which covers the 15-nation organ’s work from 1 January to 31 December 2024.
Switzerland’s representative today urged the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) to stay the course on the United Nations’ nearly decade-long project to renovate its historic Geneva headquarters — a call that comes as those offices, along with UN Headquarters in New York, face the prospect of relocating staff to less expensive duty stations.
Member States clashed over how to manage civil society participation in the upcoming high-level meeting on the thirtieth anniversary of the World Programme of Action for Youth, as the General Assembly convened today to take action on a range of matters.
As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) continues its second resumed session today, delegates will consider cross-cutting issues under their agenda item “administrative and budgetary aspects of financing UN peacekeeping operations”.
