General Assembly

The General Assembly today adopted without a vote eight resolutions and one decision, including one establishing the statute of the United Nations Nelson Mandela Prize and two on promoting cooperation with regional organizations.

VIENNA, 1 April — The United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People this afternoon commenced its third plenary on strengthening cooperation by all parties to provide relief, promote reconstruction and reignite economic development, and concluded the session with statements by the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine to the United Nations and the Chairperson of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

VIENNA, 1 April — The United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People this morning continued its second plenary session on prioritizing reconstruction tasks in Gaza, focusing on ways to resolve Gaza’s critical water crisis and develop its infrastructure.

VIENNA, 31 March — The United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People this afternoon concluded its first plenary session on the immediate and longer-term humanitarian needs in Gaza, and held a second such session focusing on resolving Gaza’s severe energy deficit.

VIENNA, 31 March — The United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, focusing on “Speeding up relief, recovery and reconstruction in post-war Gaza”, opened this morning at the headquarters in Vienna, hearing a message from the Secretary-General and statements by the senior adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas representing the State of Palestine, the Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria and the Chairperson of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Taking action without a vote, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today approved seven draft texts relating to, among other things, oversight, accountability, procurement, and nine items from the programme budget for the current biennium, as it concluded the first part of its resumed sixty-ninth session.

The rich contributions of women enslaved during the era of the transatlantic slave trade — who suffered dual forms of oppression due to their race and gender — were too often forgotten, said high-level speakers as they addressed the General Assembly’s annual event commemorating the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today rejected a draft decision that would have had the Secretary-General withdraw his bulletin laying out the United Nations current rules for the personal status of staff members used to determine their benefits and entitlements.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People at the United Nations Office in Vienna (Vienna International Centre) in Boardroom D of Building C on 31 March and 1 April.

Almost 50 years after the proclamation of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, too many individuals, communities and societies continued to suffer from the injustices and stigma brought by racism, the General Assembly heard today during a special meeting to commemorate the day.