Plenary

The General Assembly convened today to pay tribute to Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, the late President of Iran, and his entourage, all of whom perished in a tragic helicopter accident on 19 May.

The General Assembly today adopted a resolution on the Srebrenica genocide, designating 11 July as the “International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica”, to be observed annually, amid a flurry of abstentions and votes against the measure, including from Serbia, which decried the “highly politicized” nature of the resolution.

The General Assembly resumed its tenth emergency special session today to continue its debate on the admission of new Members of the United Nations.

In a world racked by increasing conflict and distrust among nations, three world leaders told the General Assembly today that a robust multilateralism system led by the United Nations is more needed than ever.

With the sharp escalation of threats to security in and from outer space, a legally binding agreement to preserve its peaceful nature is pivotal, speakers told the General Assembly today, in a meeting sparked by a veto cast by the Russian Federation, blocking a draft resolution on 24 April that aimed to prevent an arms race in outer space in all its aspects, including through the obligation not to place in Earth’s orbit any objects carrying weapons of mass destruction.

As speakers discussed the importance of collective efforts to promote a culture of peace in a world torn by conflict and crisis, the General Assembly today adopted a draft resolution in pursuit of that goal, in addition to draft texts on a variety of other topics.

The Security Council has once again failed to act in the face of the crisis that has escalated for six months in Gaza, imperiling peace and security and causing unchecked suffering and devastation, speakers told the General Assembly today, in a meeting sparked by a veto cast by the United States, blocking a draft resolution on 18 April that would have granted the State of Palestine full membership in the United Nations

More than seven years after it created a mechanism to analyse evidence of human rights abuses in Syria, the General Assembly today considered the work of this body and heard from its Head that additional funding is needed in order to continue assisting national investigations of these crimes, before adopting several draft texts recommended by the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).

Amidst ongoing paralysis in the Security Council due to the proliferating use — and misuse — of the veto despite escalating global crises, speakers in the General Assembly today called for action to ensure that casting one is not the end of United Nations action when the eyes of the world are looking to the Organization to deliver an effective response.

In a meeting triggered by a veto cast by the Russian Federation on 28 March to reject the adoption of a Council resolution that would have extended the mandate of the sanctions panel monitoring the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s nuclear weapon and missile programmes, speakers warned the General Assembly that the veto sets a dangerous precedent and could have a cascading effect on other Council sanctions.