General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

Upon the recommendation of its Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), the General Assembly adopted 38 resolutions and two decisions today, on issues including decolonization and the Israeli‑Palestinian conflict.

While postponing action on a text on the investigation into the 1961 death of Dag Hammarskjöld, the General Assembly today adopted a resolution by recorded vote on cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), urging the United Nations system to cooperate with the body in areas of mutual interest.

With the assets of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund totalling a record $62 billion at the end of October, delegates today expressed concern over the quality of service it provided to its more than 200,000 participants, as well as its failure in 2016 to meet its return‑on‑investment target, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) took up the Fund’s proposed budget for the biennium 2018‑2019.

Tackling issues related to marine areas beyond the limits of countries’ jurisdiction would mark a “giant leap forward” in advancing the fair and sustainable management of the world’s ocean, the General Assembly heard today, as it adopted two resolutions linked to the implementation of the landmark 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Welcoming the Secretary-General’s proposals aimed at reforming the United Nations programme planning and budget process, as well as increasing transparency and accountability, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today stressed that management reform must employ lessons learned from past efforts, and could not be an isolated endeavour.

Heeding the recommendation of its First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), the General Assembly adopted 53 draft resolutions and 4 draft decisions today, including one that would, with renewed determination, seek concerted action towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

The General Assembly today adopted a resolution condemning all forms of terrorism directed against religious sites — as well as any “advocacy of religious hatred” that constituted an incitement to violence — as well as two texts submitted by its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), relating to internal oversight and to United Nations conferences.

The renovation of the historic Palais des Nations campus, home of the United Nations Office in Geneva, came under scrutiny before the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today, with delegates commenting on financing modalities, transparency and the “smart working” flexible workplace concept as the CHF 836.5 million project — due for completion in 2023 ‑ moved forward.

Concluding its annual debate on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East, the General Assembly adopted six resolutions today — including two declaring Israel’s actions in the Syrian Golan and East Jerusalem “null and void” — as several delegates voiced concern that those texts perpetuated a one-sided view that isolated and targeted a single Member State.

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today concluded its work for the main part of the General Assembly’s seventy‑second session, approving 14 draft resolutions including texts on macroeconomic policy questions.