Plenary

Acting on the recommendation of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the General Assembly today appointed Thomas David Smith (United Kingdom) as a member of the Committee on Contributions for a term of office beginning on 21 May 2013 and ending on 31 December 2014.

The General Assembly, working through its busy agenda, today adopted five resolutions and one decision on a wide range of items, including on the self-determination of French Polynesia and on peace and cooperation in the South Atlantic.

After placing great demands on the environment for decades, “we stand on the mountain of development and, for the first time, Mother Earth is sending invoices back”, the General Assembly heard today during a high-level thematic debate aimed at balancing environment and development by mapping out a practical and policy pathway that had at its core the interdependency between water and energy.

As the General Assembly took action on a resolution addressing the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, delegations strongly condemned the ongoing violence and called for involved parties to immediately end the hostilities on all sides, and work together for an inclusive Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, pluralistic political system.

Given its transnational nature, combating the scourge of human trafficking required utmost international cooperation and coordination, several speakers said in the General Assembly today as it continued its high-level meeting on the appraisal of the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Human trafficking was a “vicious chain that binds victims to criminals”, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today during the General Assembly’s high-level meeting on the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Acting on the recommendation of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the General Assembly this morning decided to adjust for the first time in a decade reimbursement rates to countries contributing troops to United Nations peacekeeping operations as part of a broad package to create a credible, predictable and equitable reimbursement system.

Meeting in a brief plenary session this morning, the General Assembly adopted, as amended, a consensus resolution on the modalities, format and organization of its upcoming high-level meeting on the appraisal of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, deciding that it would take place on 13 and 14 May.

Recognizing that the “indispensable” partnership between the United Nations and the African Union remained a solid foundation for the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa, Governments in the General Assembly today welcomed intensified cooperation between the two organizations in order to stamp out all outstanding disputes on the continent.

With the quest to unite the African continent and transform it into a region of economic prosperity and social justice never closer to fulfilment, senior United Nations officials today hailed the “rise of a new Africa”, but also called on the international community to engage much more resolutely to help bring to an end the conflicts that continued to tragically claim the lives of so many Africans.