With a spirit of hope on the horizon, the General Assembly today elected Abdulla Shahid, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, to serve as President of its seventy-sixth session, while also electing the Bureaus of its six Main Committees and 22 members of the Economic and Social Council.
More than 271,000 people have been impacted and over 26,000 displaced by monsoon-related flash floods and landslides in south-western Sri Lanka, humanitarian affairs officials say. The impacts of the south-west monsoon come as Sri Lanka works to mitigate the environmental impact of a sinking cargo ship near Colombo.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks on the election of the President of the seventy-sixth session of the General assembly, today:
Stronger measures are needed to prevent people in positions of power from misusing their authority for their personal gain, speakers said today as the General Assembly concluded its thirty-second special session on the fight against corruption.
Stressing that no country is exempt from corruption, Ministers and high‑level officials from Member States called for greater commitment and collaboration at the national and international levels in the fight against the scourge, as the General Assembly continued its thirty-second special session on the issue.
Spotlighting the devastating cost of corruption to economies, societies and individuals around the globe — in particular during times of crisis and painstaking recovery — the General Assembly today adopted a sweeping Political Declaration with blueprints to help countries tackle bribery, money‑laundering, abuse of power and a raft of related crimes.
The Security Council adopted its annual report to the General Assembly today, covering the period from 1 January to 31 December 2020.
On the heels of early consultations that many delegates described as being rife with challenges, the General Assembly today adopted a resolution laying out next steps for multilateral negotiations to draft a landmark global treaty against the rising threat of cybercrime.
Delegates welcomed the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and urged stakeholders to use the agreement as an opportunity to reopen dialogue and address the root causes of the conflict, as the General Assembly wrapped up its special debate on the situation in the Middle East this morning.
The General Assembly, acting without a vote, adopted two draft resolutions and a draft decision today, including one to convene an international meeting in Stockholm on 2 and 3 June 2022 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the landmark United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm that gave birth to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
