Capping a day of debate aimed at forging a flexible and effective shared response to the present complex political, economic and social challenges, the General Assembly today adopted a raft of consensus texts urging more cooperation — among States and between the United Nations and various regions and treaty bodies — on everything from environmental management and transit construction to the broader spheres of trade, economic integration, security and peacebuilding.

Urging the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to take all possible measures to complete its work, the Security Council today allowed two judges to serve beyond the expiry of their term of office to enable them to complete work on cases in which they were involved.

The Security Council, while urging the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to take all possible measures to complete its work expeditiously, today allowed three of its judges to serve beyond the expiry of their term of office so they could complete work on cases in which they were involved.

Following are UN Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon’s remarks on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, in New York, 14 December:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the replenishment conference for the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), in New York, 14 December:

Calling on the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders to develop a plan for overcoming remaining differences before the Secretary-General’s visit in January 2011, the Security Council this morning extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force on Cyprus (UNFICYP) until 15 June 2011. By a vote of 14 in favour to 1 against (Turkey), the Council adopted resolution 1953 (2010).

Concerned over the persistent backlog of reports of States parties awaiting consideration, the Economic and Social Council today adopted a resolution asking its Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to improve its working methods in order to enable the Council to determine how to address that backlog, including by temporarily giving it more time if necessary, and to report back to the Council’s July 2011 session on efforts to do so.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message on the sixty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in Paris, 14 December:

Decolonization was a remarkable but incomplete chapter in the history of the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said today as he marked the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples by calling on the international community to remain committed to making good on its promise to end colonialism, once and for all.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders should focus with urgency in the coming year on the essential elements of a “negotiated two-State endgame, for the benefit of both peoples”, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council this morning. “The parties have set for themselves important timelines that have received strong international endorsement and 2011 is the year in which these are to be met,” Robert Serry told the Council.