Plenary

With more than a billion hungry people around the world now facing increasingly unstable food prices, collective will was needed to end excessive market speculation in food and other commodities, experts emphasized today as the General Assembly took stock of the “human tragedy” disproportionately affecting the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.

Acting on the recommendations of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the General Assembly this afternoon adopted a resolution advocating for a culture of accountability throughout the United Nations system, while affirming the need for the Assembly’s prior approval for any changes to the Secretariat’s overall departmental structure and programme budget.

Top United Nations officials pressed Governments, the private sector and civil society to take coordinated and consistent measures in combating human trafficking, as they gathered today for a General Assembly interactive dialogue on defeating a scourge that had trapped an estimated 2.4 million people worldwide.

Decrying the “hideous mechanics” of a trade that once spanned the Atlantic Ocean, senior United Nations and Government officials today marked the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade by urging vigilance against lingering racism and calling for action to combat modern-day forms of slavery and exploitation.

The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission must tap into its potential as a unique platform for sharing knowledge and experiences among post-conflict States, delegates said today as the General Assembly convened to review the latest annual reports of the Commission and its principal financing mechanism, the Peacebuilding Fund.

Acting by consensus today, the General Assembly adopted two draft resolutions aimed at strengthening the United Nations system.

“We need everyone to work together to create the future we want,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, urging the world body to rally behind the recommendations of his blue ribbon panel for launching a new, people-powered agenda for development which would eradicate poverty and promote inclusive growth, while protecting the environment and making consumption and production patterns more sustainable.

Calling for urgent and concerted action to end months of violence in Syria, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said the international community had failed the Syrian people, particularly the many innocent civilians trapped in the war-wracked cities Homs and Hama, where the Government was stepping up its systematic “atrocious assault”.

The General Assembly today adopted a resolution on reform of the human rights treaty body system and elected three judges from a pool of six candidates to the United Nations Appeals Tribunal for terms of seven years, beginning 1 July.