General Assembly: 54th Plenary Meeting (Resumed), 76th Session

Texts on Outer Space, Humanitarian Support, International Trade Also Adopted

Concluding the main part of its seventy-sixth session, the General Assembly adopted 26 resolutions and 2 decisions recommended by its main Committees, including a $3.12 billion regular budget for 2022.

Adopting a wide-range of draft texts recommended by its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the Assembly approved resources for 2022 supporting, among other things, the United Nations common system; Financing of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals; Financing of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur; and Administration of Justice at the United Nations.

In that raft of resolutions, the Assembly also approved, without a vote, two resolutions regarding its scale of assessments, one on the apportionment of expenses of the United Nations and the other for the special political missions. The scale is a complex methodology used to calculate how much each Member State pays into the United Nations regular and peacekeeping budgets.

However, a number of Members States decried the decision to include financing for the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria in the regular budget, even as the resolution as a whole was adopted by the General Assembly without a vote. Delegates from the Russian Federation, Syria, Cuba and Iran, among others, disassociated from the provisions in the resolution that related to the Mechanism, with the representative of Syria reminding the Assembly that the Mechanism was of no concern for his country.

At the outset, the Assembly also took up several draft resolutions contained in the reports of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) that had been pending due to their budget implications. It adopted a text on “Reducing space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours” by a recorded vote of 150 in favour to 8 against (China, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Nicaragua, Russian Federation, Syria and Venezuela) with 7 abstentions (Armenia, Belarus, Central African Republic, India, Israel, Pakistan and Tajikistan). By the text, the Assembly said that all States must conduct their activities in the exploration and use of outer space in conformity with international law.

As well, the Assembly took up several drafts at the recommendation of its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) that were also awaiting budgetary implications, including one on the “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic”, which was passed by a recorded vote of 93 in favour to 16 against, with 52 abstentions. By the text, the Assembly demanded that Syria’s regime and all other parties to the conflict not hinder humanitarian access and called for the continuation of cross-border humanitarian support beyond July 2022.

Acting without a vote, the Assembly also adopted a draft resolution of the Sixth Committee (Legal) on the work of the United Nations Commission on International Trade. By the text, the Assembly commended the Commission for the finalization and adoption of, inter alia, the Legislative Guide on Limited Liability Enterprises and the Legislative Recommendations on Insolvency of Micro- and Small Enterprises, stressing the importance of promoting the use of texts for the harmonization of international trade law.

Also speaking were the representatives of the Philippines, Tunisia, Eritrea, Guyana (as Rapporteur of the Fifth Committee), China, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Belarus, Syria, Venezuela, Israel and Sri Lanka, as well as a representative of the European Union, in its capacity as observer.

The General Assembly will reconvene at a date and time to be announced.

For further details please see SOURCE below.
MEETINGS COVERAGE