Delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today approved a draft decision that would provide nearly $300,000 in 2025 to support a General Assembly text that, if adopted, would request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on Israel’s obligations as an occupying Power and UN Member State in relation to the presence and activities of the UN, other international organizations and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Barely two weeks before the start of the Organization’s 2025 budget year, General Assembly President Philemon Yang (Cameroon) urged Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) delegates today to remain flexible and collaborate so as to close their regular session before Christmas.
Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the 2025 budget implications of five outputs of the First Committee’s (Disarmament and International Security) 2024 session that — if adopted by the General Assembly — would deliver nearly $800,000 to help verify nuclear disarmament, study nuclear-weapon-free zones and explore how the military’s use of artificial intelligence will impact peace and security. These First Committee actions would also establish a 21-member independent Scientific Panel on the Effects of Nuclear War and boost the progress of a group studying security and the use of communications technologies.
Delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the Secretary-General’s request to appropriate $102.8 million in 2025 for the UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia as it moves through a two-year transition period that will eventually end the Organization’s peacekeeping mandate in that country in October 2026.
The General Assembly today adopted four resolutions, including one on oceans and the law of the sea, with delegates from small island developing States emphasizing the importance of preserving the ocean and equipping future generations to live in harmony with this critical, life-sustaining resource.
The General Assembly today demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, reiterated its demand for the immediate release of all hostages and demanded that Israel allow the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to proceed with its aid operations without restriction in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The General Assembly today underscored the importance of the ocean in sustaining life on Earth for present and future generations, underlining the need to maintain and promote a healthy, sustainable and rules-based global marine life as it considered the Secretary-General’s related report (document A/79/340).
Concerned about worsening global humanitarian and economic crises, natural and man-made disasters, threats to international peace and security and the effects of climate change on forced migration and food production, the General Assembly today took action on several resolutions addressing these issues.
The General Assembly today adopted several resolutions on a variety of topics, including one stressing the need to return cultural property to countries of origin, with Member States emphasizing the importance of adhering to regulations safeguarding such artefacts, amid an unprecedented increase in trafficking and attacks against them during armed conflict.
While supporting the Secretariat’s request for $62.3 million to keep the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals running smoothly in 2025, some delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today voiced concerns with the uneven impact upcoming cutbacks would have on the Mechanism’s operations in Arusha.
