Plenary

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, delivered on behalf of the Secretary-General, at the closing of the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York today:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, delivered on behalf of the Secretary-General, at the opening of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York today:

The General Assembly concluded its seventy-seventh session today, with outgoing President Csaba Kőrösi (Hungary) urging Member States’ international cooperation, despite geopolitical conflicts, to forge future-proof integrated solutions to global challenges and uphold their promises to the world’s 8 billion people.

The General Assembly adopted today 5 resolutions and 3 decisions, including one that reaffirms the organ’s role in peace, security and the veto initiative, while also encouraging States to keep in mind that there has yet to be a woman Secretary-General.

Amid the annual commemoration of the International Day against Nuclear Tests today, the President of the General Assembly warned that the world is closer than any other time in this century to global catastrophe and stressed the urgent need to enter into force the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

The General Assembly adopted today one decision and a series of resolutions without a vote, including one in which it urged Member States to reinforce their efforts and adopt effective measures to prevent and counter crimes that impact the environment, conservation and biodiversity, and to take decisive steps at the national level to prevent, combat and eradicate the illegal trade in wildlife.

The General Assembly today adopted two resolutions — including one on entry into force of a previously adopted agreement on the oceans and conservation of biodiversity — while rejecting an amendment proposed by the Russian Federation that would have deleted three critical paragraphs of the text.

The General Assembly today adopted three consensus decisions on global health and foreign policy and three consensus resolutions on strengthening of the United Nations system, the impact of rapid technological change on the Sustainable Development Goals, and culture of peace — with the latter surviving an attempt to alter its language and sparking a heated debate on whether acts against religious symbols or books constitute a violation of international law.

Debating the Russian Federation’s 11 July veto of a Security Council draft resolution that would have authorized a nine-month renewal of cross-border aid‑delivery to northern Syria, speakers took stock of its consequences for millions of Syrians in increasingly desperate need of humanitarian aid.

Nine years after the Russian Federation’s illegal annexation of Crimea and 500 days after its invasion of Ukraine, the General Assembly met today to intensify its call for a peaceful end to a conflict that has killed and injured tens of thousands of people while scattering 6 million refugees across Europe and displacing millions more within Ukraine.