Concluding the main part of its seventy-ninth session today, the General Assembly adopted a 10-year action programme to address the unique challenges faced by landlocked developing countries, a historic cybercrime convention and the $3.72 billion United Nations budget for 2025.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) wrapped up the main part of its seventy-ninth session today by sending the General Assembly a 2025 regular budget of $3.72 billion, about $1 million more than the $3.6 billion budget laid out by the Secretary-General in October. In a year of ongoing fiscal constraints, delegates completed the crucial step of approving new scales of assessment — the complex financial mechanism the Secretariat uses to establish the annual contributions of each Member State — for both the regular and peacekeeping budgets.
Meeting again today to discuss Western arms supplies to Ukraine, the Security Council heard that civilians there continue to be killed and injured by a panoply of deadly munitions, while the organ’s members alternately urged a diplomatic end to the violence and condemned Moscow’s initial — and continued — aggression.
The Security Council today renewed the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan for six months until 30 June 2025 and requested the Secretary-General to ensure that the Force has the required capacity and resources to fulfil its mandate “in a safe and secure way”.
In a region grappling with escalating threats due to violent non-State actors, civic restrictions, political transitions and heightened humanitarian needs, the head of UN efforts in West Africa and the Sahel called on the Security Council for scaled up support within regional frameworks, as speakers welcomed more signs of progress on the democratic front.
The Security Council today extended for one year the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), expressing grave concern over the ongoing offensive by the 23 March Movement (M23) in North Kivu, in violation of the ceasefire, and the unauthorized presence of external forces from a neighbouring State in the eastern part of the country.
The Security Council today adopted a resolution highlighting the need for sustainable child protection capacities in United Nations peace operations and the importance of their smooth, responsible transfer to the Organization’s country teams during mission transitions or withdrawals.
Acting on the recommendations of its Second Committee (Economic and Financial), the General Assembly today adopted 39 resolutions — eight by recorded vote — and two decisions on topics ranging from Palestinian natural resources, entrepreneurship and small island States to international trade, adverse climate impacts and global tax cooperation.
As indiscriminate killings, sexual violence and famine deepen the crisis in Sudan, the Security Council must rise to the challenge of delivering lasting peace in that country, that body heard today from both humanitarian officials and Member States.
Rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) is outpacing human ability to govern it, even threatening human control over weapons systems, the United Nations chief warned during a Security Council briefing today, urging Member States to swiftly establish “international guard-rails” to ensure a safe, secure and inclusive AI future for all.
