Plenary

The General Assembly today elected 14 Member States to the Human Rights Council, the United Nations body responsible for promoting and protecting all human rights around the globe.

As part of its ongoing emergency special session on Ukraine, the General Assembly met today to consider a draft resolution introduced by Ukraine that, if approved, would condemn the Russian Federation’s annexation of several territories in eastern Ukraine in late September.

Delegates offered input on the Transforming Education Summit, the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2022-2031, follow-up to the Millennium Declaration and the 2005 World Summit Outcome, as well as progress in implementing the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (2016–2025), as the General Assembly met today to review how major United Nations conferences and summits are carried out and ways to help strengthen the United Nations system.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the General Assembly on Pakistan floods, in New York today:

General Assembly delegates today extended the Organization’s support and sympathy to the Government and people of Pakistan with the unanimous adoption of a resolution that emphasizes the need to help the South-East Asian nation rebuild from devastating rains that left a third of the country under water.

It is critical to finally make United Nations reform a reality to represent the entire international community, said ministers and representatives from around the world today, demanding further action on the current compounding crises as the General Assembly concluded its annual general debate.

Confrontation, unilateral action and interference in the internal affairs of States must yield to dialogue, cooperation and adherence to international law, world leaders stressed today as the General Assembly high-level debate continued, as the shortcomings of the current international system in addressing global challenges are manifest.

Under the shadow of war in Ukraine, world leaders today cast a spotlight on long-standing conflicts in other parts of the world, as the General Assembly continued its annual general debate, with speakers calling for strict adherence to international law and the Charter of the United Nations, while others sounded the alarm on the existential threat of climate change.

The deepening of inequalities and lack of fair representation in multilateral financial and economic institutions is impeding the international community's effective response to global challenges, the General Assembly heard today as it continued its annual general debate, with speakers echoing calls for vaccine equity, climate justice and institutional reform.

Against the backdrop of a world menaced by manifold crises including food and fuel insecurity, financial instability, terrorism and climate change, Heads of State and Ministers from around the world today stressed the urgency of ending the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which threatens Europe and the entire world on multiple levels, as the General Assembly high-level debate entered its second day.