Plenary

It was urgent for the world to come together to sustainably safeguard the health of its oceans, which covered two thirds of the Earth’s surface, connected 90 per cent of the population, provided 350 million jobs, and had 1 billion people in developing countries dependent on the fish those waters yielded, delegates in the General Assembly heard today prior to adopting two related draft resolutions.

The General Assembly today elected Jordan as a non-permanent member of the Security Council and appointed Morocco as a member of the Economic and Social Council’s Committee for Programme and Coordination.

The General Assembly, acting on the recommendations of its First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), adopted 53 texts today, reflecting both the common and divergent positions that had emerged during the session on such critical issues as nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, mainstreaming humanitarian concerns in that process, implementing the Arms Trade Treaty, and broadening the scope of the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms.

Vanuatu and Equatorial Guinea were now poised to become middle-income countries, the General Assembly heard today as it unanimously adopted a draft resolution on graduation from the least developed category.

Appealing to the international community to confront a $65 million cash shortfall in its 2014 budget, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East today heard representatives of 17 countries pledge to provide voluntary contributions.

Sending a strong message of support for the Middle East peace process, albeit with the traditionally divergent views on how to achieve its aims, the General Assembly today adopted six draft resolutions on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East overall.

Opening a two-day debate on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East, General Assembly delegates heard today the introduction of four draft resolutions that ranged from the declaration of 2014 as the Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People to efforts on moving forward towards a two‑State solution in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Despite improvements, measures were needed to address shortcomings and increase the transparency and coherence of the Security Council’s reporting system and working methods, the General Assembly heard today as it met to consider the annual report of that body.

Despite setbacks and challenges ahead, Afghanistan was a country that had risen from the ashes of war to become a nation based on a democratic constitution and the will of the people, delegates heard today as the General Assembly unanimously adopted a draft resolution on the situation in that country.