Plenary

Highlighting the role of the Sixth Committee (Legal) in promoting justice and international law, the General Assembly today, without a vote, adopted 17 resolutions and took two decisions recommended in 19 reports from the Committee.

Delving into issues ranging from deep sea mining and continental shelf limits to pollution, piracy and plastic waste floating at the surface, the General Assembly today adopted, without a vote, a resolution on sustainable fisheries and deferred taking action on a draft text on oceans and the Law of the Sea, as more than 30 speakers and the heads of two of the world’s ocean and sea authorities weighed in on the instruments governing those domains.

Amid ongoing formulation of a blueprint for the post-2015 development agenda, diverse positions on aid, climate finance and sustainable development funding and strategies for optimizing relevant proposals emerged during today’s debate in the General Assembly on the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing.

The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), today adopted 25 resolutions — 14 requiring recorded votes — and four decisions on an array of subjects spanning information, decolonization, the Middle East, special political missions, atomic radiation, and outer space.

Delegates Also Adopt Resolution Supporting Cooperation between United Nations and Council of Europe

In a meeting held today to observe the twentieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family, representatives of the General Assembly said the role of the family was essential in promoting social stability and economic development and that families should be afforded the same rights, importance, and dignity as individuals.

The General Assembly today, closely following the recommendation of its First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), where delegates had record-breaking participation and, as in past sessions, accorded priority attention to nuclear weapons, adopted 57 resolutions and six decisions, requiring 47 recorded votes in all, including on separate provisions of texts.

Offering a range of solutions for moving the Middle East peace process forward, while regretting the steps backward due to escalation of violence in recent months, the General Assembly adopted six draft resolutions today by recorded vote on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East overall.

This year of solidarity with the Palestinians, in which the international community sought to achieve their right to live as a free people in their homeland, had instead seen the peace process collapse and conditions deteriorate due to Israel’s illegal actions, the General Assembly heard today as it opened an annual two-day debate on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East.

As the General Assembly considered the annual report of the Security Council on its work supporting the peaceful resolution of conflicts, delegations, while acknowledging the progress made by the 15-nation body, also called for continued reforms to its working methods and greater transparency for the Organization’s wider membership as it tackled complex international crises.

Afghanistan, which this year saw the first democratic transfer of power from one president to another, had great potential, through its new unified Government, to serve as a hub for connectivity and trade across Asia and thus enhance the development and prosperity of the entire region, delegates heard today as the General Assembly unanimously adopted a draft resolution on the situation in that country.