General Assembly: 70th Plenary Meeting, 77th Session…

Following its consideration of the zone of peace, trust and cooperation of Central Asia, the General Assembly today adopted four consensus resolutions — one calling for scaled-up efforts on the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025), one declaring 26 November as World Sustainable Transport Day, one recognizing the importance of community-based health services and one requesting continued cooperation on the legacy of the Chernobyl disaster.

By the terms of the text introduced by Brazil titled “Implementation of the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025)”, the Assembly called for increased investments and the scaled-up implementation of national commitments.

The organ next adopted the text introduced by Turkmenistan titled “World Sustainable Transport Day”, through which it invited all Member States, United Nations entities, international and regional organizations, civil society and other stakeholders to commemorate the Day in an appropriate manner. 

By the draft resolution introduced by Bangladesh titled “Community-based primary health care:  a participatory and inclusive approach to universal health coverage”, the Assembly called on its Member States to allocate adequate resources, build synergies with other development priorities and explore innovative approaches.  

After the text’s adoption, several speakers took the floor to disassociate from specific paragraphs, with the representatives of Iran and the Russian Federation also underlining the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on sustainable development.

In other action, the Assembly adopted the resolution titled “Persistent legacy of the Chernobyl disaster”, by which it requested the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Inter-Agency Task Force on Chernobyl to continue coordinating international cooperation.

Brian Christopher Manley Wallace (Jamaica), Vice-President of the General Assembly, speaking afterwards on behalf of General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi (Hungary), said that the resolution reminds the world of the environmental and human catastrophe which results when nuclear reactors are unsafe. In that vein, he urged Member States to work together on nuclear safety and humanitarian issues.

At the outset, the Assembly held a debate on the declaration of Central Asia as a zone of peace, trust and cooperation (for background, see Press Release GA/12437).  Many speakers commended that declaration, with some offering recommendations alongside their encouragement, as Central Asian countries showcased regional and national efforts.

The General Assembly will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 18 May, for a high-level meeting on the midterm review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.