General Assembly

Recalling its endorsement of the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development titled “The future we want”, the General Assembly today decided to establish an intergovernmental committee of experts on sustainable development financing.

The Special Committee on Decolonization today approved a draft resolution on the question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas)* by which the General Assembly would reiterate that the way to end that “special and particular colonial situation” was the peaceful and negotiated settlement of the sovereignty dispute between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom.

BEIJING, 19 June — As the International Conference entered its final session this afternoon, previous speakers had laid the ground on the urgent need to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations — with the international community’s help — or face the increasingly untenable and far-reaching consequences of inaction.

BEIJING, 19 June — The United Nations Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace, in a panel discussion this morning, considered the role of the United Nations in breaking the status quo while seizing the opportunities and avoiding the pitfalls.

BEIJING, 18 June ‑ The United Nations Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace this afternoon heard appeals to leave perpetual conflict behind, as experts grappled with ways to revitalize the two-State solution and re-engage the international community in that effort, amid regional turmoil and, by some accounts, societal and political indifference within Israel.

BEIJING, 18 June ‑ With regional tensions rising over relentless fighting in Syria, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that “we must not lose sight of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”, the resolution of which was no less urgent, as he called for a clear political horizon to break the impasse and maximize the present momentum.

The Special Committee on Decolonization approved four draft resolutions today, including one by which the General Assembly would stress the importance of implementing the plans of action for the Second and Third International Decades for the Eradication of Colonialism, in particular by expediting the application of the work programme for the decolonization of each Non-Self-Governing Territory, on a case-by-case basis.

Meeting to consider the question of Puerto Rico, the Special Committee on Decolonization called again upon the United States today to expedite a process that would allow Puerto Ricans to fully exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.

The United Nations General Assembly will consider the impact of increasing ocean acidification on the marine environment and on people as the theme of this year’s informal consultative process on oceans, to be held from 17 to 20 June.

The General Assembly today elected by acclamation John William Ashe, the Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations, as President of its sixty-eighth session.