Plenary

The General Assembly today elected by acclamation Mogens Lykketoft, Speaker of Parliament of Denmark, as President of its seventieth session, also selecting, in consecutive meetings, Bureaux members of its six Main Committees.

With great strides made in reversing the global HIV epidemic since the dawn of the new millennium, the international community must build upon that progress — and avoid complacency — as it set out a new, post-2015 development agenda, speakers told the General Assembly this morning.

The General Assembly today adopted, by a recorded vote, a resolution recognizing the right of return of all internally displaced persons and refugees and their descendants, regardless of ethnicity, to their homes throughout Georgia, during a session that drew unanimous action on four other texts.

Condemning the barbaric destruction and looting of the cultural heritage of Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the General Assembly today deplored the rising incidence of intentional attacks against and threats to such heritage of countries affected by armed conflict.

Expressing condolences to the Nepalese people and Government in the aftermath of recent earthquakes and calling for action to speed recovery and reconstruction efforts, the General Assembly today adopted by consensus a resolution on strengthening the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance.

The General Assembly adopted two resolutions by consensus today, reaffirming by the first text the United Nations’ cooperation with the International Criminal Court, and by the second, defining the organizational contours of the third International Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in July in Addis Ababa.

The lessons of World War II — on whose ashes the United Nations was founded — must continue to guide the Organization’s work, even as it adapted to meet the evolving challenges of the modern world, delegates commemorating the seventieth anniversary of the end of the war told the General Assembly today.

Acclaiming peacebuilding as central to the international community’s collective efforts to build sustained international stability, speakers at the General Assembly today urged the ongoing review of the topic to explore ways of maximizing the potential of the Peacebuilding Commission.

The General Assembly today adopted without a vote eight resolutions and one decision, including one establishing the statute of the United Nations Nelson Mandela Prize and two on promoting cooperation with regional organizations.

The rich contributions of women enslaved during the era of the transatlantic slave trade — who suffered dual forms of oppression due to their race and gender — were too often forgotten, said high-level speakers as they addressed the General Assembly’s annual event commemorating the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.