Development and threats of use of nuclear weapons are reaching a high point that must be reversed for the good of future generations, speakers said today during the General Assembly’s annual high-level commemoration of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
World leaders addressed multiple flashpoints and volatile crises in the Middle East and elsewhere during the third day of the General Assembly’s annual high-level general debate, with Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, urging the international community to hold Israel to account for carrying out a “full-scale war of genocide” and stressing that the Palestinian people “will not allow a single centimetre of Gaza to be taken”.
Acknowledging the complex global problems facing beleaguered multilateral institutions, African leaders called today for not just a permanent seat at the Security Council table, but for an elevated presence in international affairs that reflects the continent’s potential, power and resources.
Sounding the alarm that “hell is breaking loose in Lebanon”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged the Security Council in an emergency meeting to call on Hizbullah and Israel to pull back from the brink of a potentially catastrophic regional war. Sounding the alarm that “hell is breaking loose in Lebanon”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged the Security Council in an emergency meeting to call on Hizbullah and Israel to pull back from the brink of a potentially catastrophic regional war.
The representatives of small island developing States and low-lying countries today urged immediate international action to combat sea-level rise — a global crisis threatening the lives and livelihoods of 1 billion people worldwide — during the General Assembly’s inaugural high-level meeting on the issue.
Ahead of an all-day meeting, with 90 speakers expected to take the floor, the Security Council adopted a Presidential Statement (to be issued as S/PRST/2024/5) affirming the principles set forth in the Charter of the United Nations and underscoring that the need to strengthen resolve to maintain international peace and security, consistent with the Charter, is more pressing than ever.
The rising level of impunity in the world is “politically indefensible and morally intolerable”, with many Governments and actors feeling entitled to a “get out of jail free” card, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned in his address to the General Assembly today as its annual high-level debate began, with world leaders raising alarm about the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
“Let us intensify our efforts to seek peace in Ukraine,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged a ministerial-level Security Council meeting today, as speakers debated ways to stop the war in that country, with some offering mediation and pledging support and others calling for the cessation of weapon delivery to the Russian Federation.
Government leaders emphasized the need to rethink global governance and create a fairer, more inclusive multilateral system that will “benefit all countries” rather than “increase the power of a few”, as the Summit of the Future concluded its second and final day.
Current decisions must be made with the participation of youth and women to account for the long-term impact on future generations, speakers emphasized during an interactive dialogue at the Summit of the Future today.
