Plenary

With millions fighting a daily battle against discrimination to gain access to education, health services and decent work, the President of the General Assembly today urged the United Nations family to join hands with Governments and other stakeholders around the world in embracing diversity and ending discrimination, during a special meeting to mark the end of the International Year of Human Rights Learning.

Stressing the seriousness of climate change, the General Assembly today adopted a consensus resolution, by which it called on States to work cooperatively towards achieving the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change through the urgent implementation of its provisions.

Capping an extensive day-long joint debate on oceans and the law of the sea, the General Assembly today adopted two wide-ranging resolutions meant to guide States in preserving ocean health and outline ways to combat rogue fishing practices that continued to threaten fish stocks and marine habitats around the world.

The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of its First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), today adopted 54 texts, including one new resolution adopted by consensus in the nuclear weapons sphere -– naming 29 August as the international day against nuclear tests.

Describing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a lifeline for millions of Palestinians affected by recurring regional violence, and expressing concern over its current funding shortfall, 19 donors this morning pledged roughly $91.4 million to UNRWA for 2010, with several more indicating their contributions would be forthcoming.

Fresh from observing the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the General Assembly this morning concluded two days of plenary debate on the question of Palestine and the broader situation in the Middle East with the adoption, by recorded vote, of six resolutions aimed at promoting the inalienable rights of Palestinians -– particularly to statehood –- and permanently ending Israel’s “illegal” actions in Jerusalem and Syrian Golan.

As the General Assembly today wrapped up its annual debate on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East, several delegations urged the international community to end six decades of “collective failure” to answer the Palestinian question through a peaceful settlement.

Nearly a year after Israel’s military offensive into the Gaza Strip which left some 1,400 Palestinians dead and pushed an already desperate humanitarian situation into crisis, the question of Palestine was at a critical juncture, and sustained focus was needed to both revive stagnant peace talks and create conditions for broader peace in the Middle East, General Assembly delegates said today, as they launched their annual debate of those and related issues.

While early and concrete successes underlined the importance of the young Peacebuilding Commission and Peacebuilding Fund ‑‑ established at the General Assembly’s 2005 World Summit to help countries emerging from conflict hold on to fragile reconstruction gains ‑‑ broader support and resources were needed, notably from the private sector, to enable those bodies to realize their potential, Assembly delegates said today as they considered progress achieved thus far.

Only 17 days ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon today refuted reports that the talks on reducing heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions would fall short of expectations, and called on Member States to forge the political determination needed to broker a comprehensive deal that would create the climate security all nations desired.