General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

Note:  A complete summary of tonight's Fifth Committee meeting will be made available on Monday, 3 April.

The General Assembly today adopted by consensus a resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the obligations of States in respect of climate change, with most speakers hailing the move as a milestone in their decades-long struggle for climate justice. The Assembly also adopted a resolution on the role of diamonds in fuelling conflict.

The scars of slavery are still visible around the world as disparities in wealth, income, health and education, speakers in the General Assembly emphasized, calling for transformative education that acknowledges this history, as well as concrete measures to address the resulting inequalities.

​​​​​​​Speakers urged greater action to end long-standing inequalities affecting many groups worldwide due to the legacy of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade, as the General Assembly commemorated the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The Special Committee on Decolonization met today to approve the guidelines and rules of procedure for its 2023 Pacific Regional Seminar, which will be held in Bali, Indonesia, from 24 to 26 May.

The Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations today approved without a vote a substantive report on its 2023 session as orally amended, concluding its work, which was held at United Nations Headquarters from 21 February to 15 March.

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) meeting today urged the Secretariat to uphold its commitment to a strong accountability system, a core component of the Organization’s effective management reform.

The General Assembly today adopted by consensus two decisions, one on the 2024 session of the Economic and Social Council and its high-level political forum on sustainable development and the other on the upcoming 2023 United Nations Water Conference.

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) resumed its seventy-seventh session, speakers today called on colleagues to help the Secretariat rejuvenate the Organization by creating a more efficient, agile and dynamic system for managing thousands of employees around the globe, while chiding each other for failing to agree in the past five years on ways to overhaul the human resources system.

Following nearly 36 hours of non-stop negotiations, the Intergovernmental Conference today reached agreement on the text for a historic new maritime biodiversity treaty, as it adjourned its fifth resumed session.