General Assembly

The President of the United Nations General Assembly, John Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda), held an end-of-year press conference today at Headquarters in which he discussed highlights from the past year and outlined expected activities for 2014 and beyond, including the long-standing issue of Security Council reform.

The following statement was issued today by Abdou Salam Diallo (Senegal), Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, on the passing of Nelson Mandela:

Meeting in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, speakers said today that with new direct negotiations under way, the time had come to end the suffering of the Palestinians and create an independent State for them.

NEW YORK, 22 November (Division for Palestinian Rights) — The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will hold a special meeting in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People in the Economic and Social Council Chamber at 10 a.m. on Monday, 25 November, in accordance with General Assembly resolutions 32/40 B of 2 December 1977 and 67/21 of 30 November 2012.

In an organizational meeting this morning, the Disarmament Commission elected the Chair for its 2014 substantive session and reviewed the proposals contained in a resolution of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), including that it hold that session from 7 to 25 April.

The Palestinian Rights Committee today approved four draft resolutions relating to the question of Palestine, as it considered the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly with regard to Israel’s recent settlement activities.

Twenty-four countries pledged approximately $488 million during a Headquarters event in support of United Nations development activities primarily covering 2014. The amount represents a decline of approximately $377 million in comparison to last year’s pledges.

The Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People issued the following statement today, 7 November:

Welcoming the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian direct negotiations and stressing that the current diplomatic initiative may represent “the final window of opportunity to achieve a negotiated two-State solution”, the Palestinian Rights Committee adopted its annual report this morning and heard a briefing on the most recent developments in the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

At a Headquarters press conference today, Assembly President John Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda) welcomed civil society’s participation in determining the post-2015 development agenda as the “new norm”, and highlighted, among other changes, steps towards a new openness during the sixty-eighth General Assembly session.