General Assembly

Continuing their deliberations on a legally binding instrument prohibiting nuclear weapons, Member States suggested today ways in which to improve the proposed text as well as various amendments to several of its draft articles.

The Special Committee on Decolonization today sent a draft resolution to the General Assembly calling on the Government of the United States to assume its responsibility to expedite a process that would allow the people of the island to fully exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.

Speakers voiced support for the requirement that all States parties destroy their existing nuclear arsenals, as the Conference convening to codify a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons and lead towards their total elimination entered its second day.

The pursuit of a world free of nuclear weapons was becoming more urgent than ever before, particularly in the midst of a deteriorating international security landscape, the senior-most United Nations disarmament official said today.

In what its President called the first major institutional reform presented by Secretary-General António Guterres, the General Assembly unanimously decided today to establish the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, while also electing 18 members to the Economic and Social Council.

Opening its 2017 substantive session today, the Special Committee on Decolonization approved two draft resolutions on the transmission of information from Non-Self-Governing Territories, and on the dissemination of information on decolonization.

The inaugural United Nations Ocean Conference concluded at Headquarters today, with Heads of State and Government and high-level representatives adopting a “Call for Action” to conserve and sustainably use the world’s oceans.

The Ocean Conference dedicated its penultimate day to commemorating World Oceans Day, with speakers in the General Assembly Hall emphasizing the need for immediate collective action to turn the tide on marine degradation and place oceans at the centre of sustainable development for future generations.

Speakers in the United Nations Ocean Conference today tackled ways to combat illegal fishing practices that were destroying vital marine habitats, as well as eliminate the $35 billion in harmful subsidies that had led to overfishing, distorted markets and chronic mismanagement of the world’s fisheries.

Speakers emphasized the urgency of expanding protected coastal and marine areas — one of the targets of Goal 14 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — as well as tackling the problem of ocean acidification during partnership dialogues on the second day of the United Nations Ocean Conference.