Plenary

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ briefing to the General Assembly, in New York today:

At the start of a year in which the world continues to be destabilized by an ever-raging pandemic and multiplying conflicts and crises, Secretary-General António Guterres briefed the General Assembly today on his urgent priorities for 2022, calling upon countries to mobilize against a “five-alarm global fire”, referring to COVID-19, the climate crisis, an unprincipled global financial system, lawlessness in cyberspace, and a rise in violent conflict.

Rejecting and condemning Holocaust denial, the General Assembly urged Member States today to develop educational programmes that will inculcate future generations with the lessons of the atrocity to prevent acts of genocide.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Concluding the main part of its seventy-sixth session, the General Assembly adopted 26 resolutions and 2 decisions recommended by its main Committees, including a $3.12 billion regular budget for 2022.

As the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and glaring inequities continue to wreak havoc on development, the General Assembly today adopted 37 resolutions and two decisions of its Second Committee (Economic and Financial) aimed at reversing setbacks and setting the global community back on track.

The General Assembly adopted 59 resolutions and one decision recommended by its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, covering a range of issues, from the rights of refugees and others forced to flee their homes, to the provision of universal and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

The General Assembly adopted five resolutions concerning humanitarian assistance today, as delegates wrestled with how relief efforts should respond to the compounding crises of COVID‑19, conflict and climate change, as they looked towards the challenges facing the world in 2022.

Acting on the recommendations of its Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) and Sixth Committee (Legal), the General Assembly today adopted a total of 51 resolutions and 13 decisions on items ranging from decolonization to the power, study and dissemination of international law.

As the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea approaches its fortieth anniversary next December, delegates at the General Assembly today laid out the urgency of using the international treaty to sustain the oceans, protect marine resources and shield communities facing rising sea levels.