General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

The Peacebuilding Commission plays a vital role in connecting “the dots” between the United Nations work streams on peace and development, its new Chair said today, as he laid out the 31-member body’s priorities for 2024.

Donor countries that have suspended funding to the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees — following allegations of staff involvement in the 7 October attacks against Israel — should reverse their decisions, speakers told the Palestinian Rights Committee today, as they stressed that such cuts will penalize millions of aid recipients, rather than individuals implicated in the case.

The General Assembly decided today to convene a one-day high-level plenary meeting in late September to address the existential threats posed by sea-level rise.

Speakers in the General Assembly today examined the recent use of veto by the United States against an amendment to Security Council resolution 2720 (2023) on Gaza that would have called for “an urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access” and for “urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities”.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today wrapped up the main part of its seventy-eighth session by sending the General Assembly a 2024 budget of $3.59 billion, about $3 million more than the $3.3 billion budget laid out by the Secretary-General in October.

Concluding the main part of its seventy-eighth session, the General Assembly today adopted 28 resolutions and 1 decision, including a $3.59 billion budget for 2024, the establishment of a financing mechanism for the Peacebuilding Fund and the strengthening of a Secretariat office meant to curb the presence of racism in the Organization.

The Arab-Israeli conflict will know no end unless a solution to the Palestinian question is found, otherwise the war will be passed down from generation to generation, the General Assembly heard today, as several delegates also underscored Israel’s right to self-defence within the parameters of international law.

The General Assembly met today to pay tribute to Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, late Emir of Kuwait, who passed away on 16 December.

Acting on the recommendations of its Second Committee (Economic and Financial) and Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), the General Assembly today adopted a total of 99 resolutions and 3 decisions on items ranging from permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people and eradicating poverty to combating glorification of Nazism and plight of refugees.

The General Assembly, endeavouring to complete by year’s end the main part of its current session, adopted eight resolutions today, covering issues that included promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue, safe water and sanitation in health-care facilities, sustainable use of oceans and security challenges posed by synthetic drugs.