With the so-called “Doomsday Clock” at 90 seconds from midnight — or total global catastrophe — amid a host of multilevel global crises, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres laid out his critical priorities for 2023 to the General Assembly today, urging Member States to seize the moment and act before it is too late.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ briefing to the General Assembly meeting on the priorities of the Organization for 2023, in New York today:
Voting by secret ballot, the General Assembly today elected Inger Andersen (Denmark) — on the nomination of the Secretary-General — as Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for a second term of four years, commencing on 15 June 2023 and ending on 14 June 2027, following the defeat of a request to the Secretary-General to invite Member States to present candidates for that position.
Concluding the main part of its seventy-seventh session, the General Assembly today adopted 24 resolutions and 2 decisions, including a $3.4 billion budget for 2023 and an annual budget cycle as part of the Organization’s financial framework.
The General Assembly today adopted resolutions to protect the world’s oceans and combat violent extremism and elected five Member States to the Peacebuilding Commission, but failed yet again to fill a seat on the Economic and Social Council held by the Group of Eastern European States.
Concluding its debate on the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, the General Assembly today also adopted resolutions concerning police cooperation, rights of persons with disabilities and as its credentials committee.
The General Assembly adopted 51 resolutions and 1 decision recommended by its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, covering a range of issues, from the rights children, women, refugees and others forced to flee their homes, to combating the glorification of Nazism.
With developing countries facing persistent inequality, lack of financial access and the ravages of climate change, the General Assembly adopted 38 of 41 resolutions and 2 decisions introduced by its Second Committee (Economic and Financial), in an effort to turn around rising poverty and hunger and propel the Sustainable Development Goals.
Acting on the recommendation of its Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), the General Assembly today adopted 33 draft resolutions and two draft decisions, including texts concerning the mandate and operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, delegates at the General Assembly today considered two draft resolutions that address a diverse range of challenges, including climate change, loss of marine biodiversity, and sustainable fisheries.
