The General Assembly today concluded its high-level meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, with several Member States remembering how the Organization’s peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts lifted them out of conflict and put them back on the path to a better future.
Honduras deposited the fiftieth instrument of ratification to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, resulting in it being entered into force in January 2021. The Secretary-General said the Treaty is a commitment towards the elimination of nuclear weapons, which is the Organization’s highest disarmament priority.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on UN Day, observed on 24 October:
The World Meteorological Organization launched today FOCUS-Africa, an $8.2 million initiative funded by the European Commission to increase resilience and adaptation in Southern Africa over the next four years. It will deliver tailored services in agriculture and food security, water, energy and infrastructure.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the General Assembly meeting marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, in New York today:
In a high-level meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, world leaders in the General Assembly gathered in a virtual format today to adopt a declaration honouring the multilateral framework put in place by its founders in 1945 and pledging to better live out the promise to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its fifty-first session from 22 to 24 July 2020. Due to ongoing challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the meetings were held virtually. The session was presided over by the Chair, Janet St. Laurent. All the other members of the Committee — namely Richard Quartei Quartey (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Bradley, Anton Kosyanenko and Agus Pramono — were in attendance.
The General Assembly established the United Nations Board of Auditors in 1946 as an important mechanism to promote accountability and transparency in the Organization.
An estimated 4.1 million girls will be subjected to female genital mutilation this year and if programmes and services stay shut for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that figure will reach 6.1 million by 2030, according to the United Nations Population Fund’s “State of World Population 2020” report issued today.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the annual memorial service for fallen staff, in New York today:
