General Assembly

As the General Assembly began its fourth review of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy today, Member States condemned the recent terrorist attacks and the abduction of Turkish diplomats in Iraq, as well as the attacks in Nigeria and Pakistan, calling for a deepening of international cooperation and a full and balanced implementation of the Strategy’s four pillars.

The General Assembly today elected by acclamation Sam Kutesa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uganda, as President of its sixty-ninth session.

Despite progress in the worldwide fight against HIV and AIDS, the international community should not let confidence turn to complacency, the United Nations Secretary-General warned the General Assembly today. The headway made in the implementation of the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS was the focus of the day’s meeting, with delegates reflecting on advancements made, while lamenting the enormous challenges that remained in the battle against the disease.

Concerned about forced demographic changes, as well as the humanitarian situation resulting from armed conflict in Georgia, the General Assembly recognized today the right of all internally displaced persons, refugees and their descendants to return to their homes throughout that country, including Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia.

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today recommended for adoption by the General Assembly a draft resolution that would urge Member States and the United Nations to implement measures identified by the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations.

The Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People issued the following statement today:

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today heard the introduction of a draft resolution on the financing of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for the 2014/15 fiscal year, but failed to take action on the text.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) would need $313 million to meet its immediate and essential start-up costs for the period from 10 April 2014 to year-end, a senior United Nations official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) would need $22.8 million net to carry out its mandate in 2014, a senior United Nations official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today.