Plenary

With calls for good governance, transparency, trustworthy legal systems and accountability for crimes ringing out from the Arab world to Africa, Asia and Europe, the rule of law represented the world’s “best hope for building peaceful, prosperous societies”, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the General Assembly today during an informal thematic debate convened as part of the preparatory process for the high-level meeting on the rule of law planned for 2012.

Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years after the landmark General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, it was clear that the energy and activism of civil society had been crucial to progress against the epidemic, and Governments and civil society must forge stronger partnerships to adapt the global response to quickly changing realities on the ground, the General Assembly was told today, as it convened an informal interactive hearing with civil society.

An annual International Day of Human Space Flight was declared by the General Assembly this afternoon, to be celebrated on 12 April, the date of the first manned space flight in 1961.

Moving closer to operationalizing the global reporting and assessment process on the state of the world’s marine environment, which was first called for by the 2002 Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, the General Assembly today adopted a consensus resolution requesting that the Secretary-General explore the establishment of appropriate means to address the communications requirements needed for the launch of such a process.

With the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries a little more than a month away, the General Assembly convened today an interactive civil society hearing to explore ways grass-roots organizations could revive the global drumbeat on behalf of the world’s poorest countries and put pressure on Governments to honour their promises to deliver sustainable development for all.

Italy and Europe shared a future with the Mediterranean, a region where political unrest had shaken many countries, and the European Union should be ready to do more for those struggling to build new foundations on the basis of freedom, respect for human rights, democratic progress and good governance, Giorgio Napolitano, President of Italy, stressed today in a wide-ranging address to the General Assembly.

Born from the commitment made by the international community at the 2005 World Summit to meet Africa’s special needs, the 10-year capacity-building programme for the African Union pioneered a model of true partnership between the United Nations and regional organizations, representatives of several African nations told the General Assembly today.

Marking the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, senior United Nations and Government officials today honoured the “heroes” that had fought and died to overcome the legacy of one of humanity’s “darkest chapters”, and called for action on behalf of millions who were still being subjected to intolerable forms of forced labour and exploitation.

As the General Assembly today considered the recent progress reports of the two key bodies of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture, delegates gave generally favourable reviews of their track records in responding to the needs and challenges on the ground of strife-torn and post-conflict countries.

Warning that the past century’s heedless resource consumption had left the world at an uncertain crossroads, senior United Nations officials and Government leaders today challenged the international community to define and urgently implement a practical, twenty-first century development model that could “connect the dots between the key issues of our time” — climate change, population growth, poverty and environmental stress — and build a resilient, sustainable future.