Climate change, environmental issues, the migrant and refugee crisis, and the general threat of terrorism were among the concerns voiced by delegates at the General Assembly, speaking as world leaders gathered in New York for the seventieth session of the six-day general debate, which was preceded by a three-day summit on the Sustainable Development Goals as well as a high-level thematic debate on the maintenance of international peace and security.
The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, in cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), will convene an International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem in Jakarta, at the Hotel Borobodur on 14 and 15 December 2015, under the theme “Addressing the present and shaping the future of Jerusalem”.
In support of United Nations development activities, primarily covering 2015, 16 countries pledged approximately $77 million today at a Headquarters event. The amount represented a dramatic decline in comparison to pledges in 2014 of $560 million.
A total of 21 donors today announced contributions, or their intention to contribute, to the 2016 budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as officials urged stable financing for the Agency against a backdrop of expanding crises in the Middle East.
On 15 June, the United Nations General Assembly elected Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark to serve as the President of its seventieth session, which runs from September 2015 to September 2016.
Peace did not automatically result from ending conflict, but rather from building societies that embraced diversity, equality, democratic participation and access to education, senior United Nations officials and eminent peace advocates stressed today during the General Assembly’s annual High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace.
The International Day against Nuclear Tests will be observed on 10 September at United Nations Headquarters. This year’s official opening ceremony, marked by an informal meeting, will be convened by the President of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly, Sam Kutesa, and organized in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, in cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States, will convene an international meeting on the Question of Palestine in Brussels, at The Hotel, on 7 and 8 September 2015. The theme of the conference will be “Israeli settlements as an obstacle to peace — possible ways forward”.
Global, concerted action was immediately needed to halt greenhouse gas emissions, put a price tag on carbon and catalyse green growth, the General Assembly heard today, concluding its High-level Event on Climate Change.
Welcoming what he called a “gratifying shift” in the climate change dialogue, the President of Kiribati today urged the international community to ponder ways to further contribute to that positive development, as the General Assembly held a high-level event to provide impetus towards reaching a universal and ambitious agreement in Paris in December.
