Having made considerable progress in reducing the rates of new HIV infections and expanding the availability of antiretroviral drugs, the global community must resist the temptation to “rest on its laurels” and instead redouble efforts to completely eradicate the virus, the General Assembly heard today, as delegates outlined national progress towards meeting testing and treatment benchmarks to that end.
Opening the substantive portion of its 2018 session today, the Special Committee on Decolonization took up the long‑standing questions of Gibraltar and Western Sahara, while also approving several annual resolutions relating to the dissemination of information about its work and the dispatching of visiting missions to the world’s 17 remaining Non‑Self‑Governing Territories.
In a single round of voting today, the General Assembly elected Belgium, Dominican Republic, Germany, Indonesia and South Africa as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms spanning 2019-2020.
An effective accountability system was critical to the successful management of the United Nations Secretariat, delegates told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today, as they called for continued refinement of policies and practices regardless of decisions taken on overall reform of the Organization’s executive branch.
The General Assembly elected María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (Ecuador) today as President of its seventy-third session — making her only the fourth woman to helm the 193-member organ in its more than seven-decades-long history — while also electing 21 Vice-Presidents by acclamation.
Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today advocated streamlining processes and reducing unnecessary bureaucracy to best equip the United Nations to deliver on its mandates as the Secretary‑General’s Chef de Cabinet laid out his proposal to decentralize the management structures at Headquarters.
To a burst of applause, the General Assembly adopted today a landmark consensus resolution on repositioning the United Nations development system, hailed by Secretary‑General António Guterres as ushering in the most ambitious and comprehensive transformation of those activities in decades.
Several gaps in the revised budget proposal for the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals could negatively impact mandate delivery, delegates warned today, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) examined the Mechanism’s financing requirements for the next two years.
While the Peacebuilding Commission had become more adaptive — expanding its work to the Gambia, Solomon Islands and the Sahel — it must do more to coordinate its efforts, particularly with the Security Council, delegates in the General Assembly stressed today, as they explored how the advisory body could foster coherence among United Nations endeavours in building and sustaining peace around the world.
The battle against corruption was vital to the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, General Assembly President Miroslav Lajčák (Slovakia), told delegates today, noting that corruption stifled growth and development.
