General Assembly: Briefing followed by 69th plenary meeting (resumed), 80th session

Okay, let's start. Good afternoon, colleagues. My name is Ruth de Miranda, and I'm the Director of the General Assembly and the ECOSOC Affairs Division of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management. I'm here today with the Deputy Chief of the General Assembly Affairs Branch and Tomoko, the Deputy Secretary of the Fifth Committee. What we would like to do with this briefing is to provide you a brief overview of how the consideration of the report of the Fifth Committee will proceed at today's General Assembly plenary meeting, at the meeting that starts at 3 o'clock. We have distributed a one-page PowerPoint presentation. It has been circulated to all of you and it is on the screen. On the screen so you can see how it will go this afternoon. In paragraph 28 of its Resolution 79327 of 5 September 2025, entitled Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly, the Assembly decided to simplify the adoption of draft resolutions and decisions recommended by a main committee in the General Assembly Plenary, subject to the following provisions. The General Assembly Plenary shall first take all votes one by one on draft resolutions and decisions recommended by the Main Committee and/or parts thereof where such votes were taken in the Committee. The Plenary shall subsequently adopt without a vote in one gavel all other draft resolutions and and decisions adopted by the committee without a vote. The resolutions and decisions shall be numbered in the order listed in the report of the main committee, regardless of whether they were adopted with or without a vote, excluding proposals with program budget implications. I will come back to you, but you have before you a draft or a document, AC580-INF3-REF1. That's going to be an important, uh, document this afternoon, so please keep it with you, and we will explain how we will go about it. In the meeting today at 3 o'clock, as in the past, the floor will be given first to the rapporteur of the committee to introduce the report. That is step one. Once the rapporteur has introduced the report, the President of the General Assembly will then go over the established procedures, such as that the General Assembly will proceed to take decisions in the same manner as was done in the committee. This means that where recorded votes were taken, we will do the same, um, Statements are limited to explanation of vote. In accordance with Decision 34/401, a delegation should, as far as possible, explain its vote only once, that is, either in the Committee or in the Plenary meeting, unless that delegation's vote in Plenary meeting is different from its vote in the Committee. If there are any votes The results of the votes will be uploaded on the eDelegate portal on the plenary place. Any corrections to the voting intention of delegations after the voting has concluded on a proposal should be addressed directly to the Secretariat after the meeting. There should be not any interruptions to the proceedings in this regard. Third, explanations of vote. Before the vote. The President will say delegations wishing to make a statement in explanation of vote before the vote on any proposal recommended by the Committee today are invited to do so now in one intervention. After we have taken action on all the draft proposals before the Plenary, there will be another opportunity for statements in explanation of after the vote on any or all of them in one intervention. This is for explanations of any proposal recommended by the Committee, regardless of whether the recommended proposal was adopted without or without a vote in the Committee. So really, if you want to speak in the plenary, you have two opportunities to do so: once before and once after. We're not going item by item, so we're going to take all the items. If you look at your document, as I said, AC580-INF3-REF1, you see in the first column the item number. 133 is the first one. The draft resolution proposed to the plenary is Draft Resolution 1. That was the L14 resolution in the Fifth Committee, and you see that that was adopted without a vote in the Fifth Committee this afternoon. So if you want to make an explanation of vote on 133, on 137, on 139, and one— whatever— 134, you can do so either before or after the action, but you can do it, you know, in one go. The window for explanation of vote, of before the vote, also serves as an opportunity to propose any oral amendment. In this regard, we understand that there are the following amendment, oral amendments, intended to be proposed during the explanation of before the vote, and a recorded vote is requested on both of them. Our understanding is that an oral amendment proposed by the Russian Federation to draft Resolution 13 entitled Special Subjects Relating to the Proposed Program Budget for 2026, and an oral amendment proposed by Cuba also to draft Resolution 13 entitled Special Subjects Relating to the Proposed Program for Budget for 2026 will be proposed. I'm asking the delegations that are intending to propose any oral amendment to announce the intention now in order to help all delegations plan for the voting. Can I give the floor to the Russian Federation?

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yes, we confirm our intention to propose oral amendment.

Thank you.

Thank you. And can I give the floor to the delegation of Cuba?

Gracias, señora presidenta. Sí, confirmo la intención de presentar la enmienda oral. Muchas gracias.

Thank you very much. There was no interpretation, but I will interpret it. The Cuban delegation has just confirmed that they intend to propose an oral amendment to draft resolution 13. If you look at the document A/C580-INF/3/REF1, ref 1. I understand you only have the inf 3, not the ref 1, so I stand corrected, but if you look, I think it is at page 2. If you look at the bottom, you see Draft Resolution 13 in column 3. You look item 136 in column 1, then you see in column 2 Draft Resolution 13, then you see special subjects relating to the proposed program budget for 2026. And my understanding was that that's where the That's the— in the third committee— in the fifth committee, it was A/C5/ATL5. That's the resolution where the two oral amendments will be proposed. So it's for the plenary, it's Draft Resolution 13. For the fifth committee, it was A/C5/ATL5. That is in column 2 and column 3 of the document. Okay, the Assembly will take all votes one by one following the order of draft resolutions and draft decisions contained in this document. Since the committee did not vote on any draft resolutions during the main part of the session, this step will be skipped by the plenary this afternoon. Fifth, the Assembly will take a decision in one gavel on all draft resolutions and decisions adopted by the Committee without a vote. This step will begin with the votes on the oral amendments to the draft resolutions adopted by the Committee without a vote in accordance with Rule 90 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, namely an oral amendment proposed by the Russian Federation to Draft Resolution 13 entitled Special Subjects Relating to the Proposed Program Budget for 2026, and an oral amendment proposed by Cuba also to draft Resolution 13 entitled Special Subjects Relating to the Proposed Program Budget for 2026. So we will— when we start with the action, those are the two that we will start with. After votes are taken on all such oral amendments to draft resolutions and decisions adopted by the Committee without a vote, the President of the Assembly will say something like this: The Committee adopted the following draft resolutions and decisions without a vote: Draft Resolutions 1 to 16 and Draft Resolution/Decision 1. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise? It is so decided. If there is any inscription, explanations of vote after the vote will be heard on any or all proposals in one intervention. If you are planning to ask for an explanation either before or after the vote, if you could please see my colleague Carlos, he sits there, and he will then inscribe you so that we know that you would like to speak. But again, if you have spoken in the committee, we encourage you not to speak again in the plenary. If any of you have any questions on how we will proceed this afternoon, I will take any of the questions. But otherwise, thank you very much. No, no request for the floor, so we were clear. Thank you very much and good luck.

The 69th Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly is resumed. The Assembly will take up the report of the Fifth Committee on agenda items 133 to 137, 139, 142, 144 to 148, and 177. The documentation under these items is listed in the Journal of the United Nations. I request the rapporteur of the committee, Mr. Vadim Biloni of Chile to introduce the report of the Committee.

Madam President, distinguished delegates. I have the honor to present the report of the Fifth Committee. During the main part of the 80th session, the Fifth Committee met from October 6th to December 30th, 2025, holding 20 plenary meetings and numerous informal consultations. A number of the committee's reports were already considered by the General Assembly at its 18th, 42nd, and 69th plenary meetings, and the additional reports of the Fifth Committee containing recommendations for consideration during the main part of the 80th session of the General Assembly are reflected in A/C5/80/INF/3. Recommendations include draft resolutions on financial reports and audited financial statements and reports of the Board of Auditors, Capital Master Plan, program planning, pattern of conferences, reports on the activities of the Ethics Office, United Nations Common System, report on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, Administration of Justice at the United Nations, financing of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, support account for peacekeeping operations, financing of the United Nations Support Office in Haiti, questions relating to the proposed program budget for 2026, special subjects relating to the proposed program budget for 2026, Program Budget for 2026, Unforeseen and Extraordinary Expenses for 2026, Working Capital Fund for 2026. Lastly, the committee recommends to the General Assembly a draft decision entitled Questions Deferred for Future Considerations. Senhora Presidente.

Madam President. I'd now, if I may, like to address some personal words to you. I'd like to express my thanks to delegates and representatives of the Secretariat for their exceptional efforts that have taken place under particularly exceptional and demanding conditions of this main session working on the UNAT Initiative. I'd like to thank the chair of the Fifth Committee, Permanent Representative of Hungary, Ambassador Susanna Horvath, and her team, Nicoletta Csok and Dorca Novak. Thank them for their outstanding commitment to the efficient conduct of this challenging session. I'd also like to thank the vice chairs and my colleagues in the bureau, Messrs. Mohamed Taghi Amrouhahi, Badruldeen Bakit and Erik Björk. I'd like to thank them for their professionalism and their remarkable dedication. In conclusion, I'd like to make special mention of our families and those close to us. Very often their role is not recognized, but their constant support is fundamental for us to continue to make progress, particularly at times of a heavy workload. They support us in our homes here in New York or from a distance in our home countries. Their support and encouragement sustain us every day. Thank you, Madam President.

I thank the Rapporteur of the Committee. Before proceeding further, I would like to emphasize that as the Committee has finished its work earlier today, the Committee's report is available in English only. It is my understanding that it will be issued in all languages as soon as possible. I thank you for your understanding. The positions of delegations regarding the recommendation of the Committee have been made clear in the Committee and are reflected in the relevant records. Therefore, if there is no proposal under Rule 66 of the Rules of Procedure I shall take it that the Assembly decides not to discuss the report of the committee which is before the Assembly today. It is so decided. Statements will therefore be limited to explanations of vote. We will proceed to take decisions in the same manner as was done in the committee unless the Secretariat is notified otherwise. In advance. It is my hope that we may proceed to adopt without a vote in one gavel all recommendations that were adopted without a vote in the committee pursuant to Resolution 79/327 of 5 September 2025. The results of the votes will be uploaded on eDelegate portal under plenary place. Any corrections to the voting intentions of delegations after the voting has concluded on a proposal should be addressed directly to the Secretariat after the meeting. I count on your cooperation in avoiding any interruptions to our proceedings in this regard. The note by the Secretariat entitled Recommendations Contained in the Report of the Fifth Committee for Consideration by the General Assembly has been issued as A/C.5/80/INF/3. We shall now proceed to consider the draft resolutions and draft decision recommended by the committee. Delegations wishing to make a statement in explanation of the vote on any proposal recommended by the committee today are invited to do so now in one intervention. After action on all of the— of them, there will be an opportunity for statements and explanation of the vote after the vote on any or all of them in one intervention. Before giving the floor for explanations of vote before the vote, may I remind delegations that they are strongly urged to limit explanations to votes to 5 minutes, which should in any case not exceed 10 minutes, and be made from their seats. In accordance with Decisions 34/401, a delegation should, as far as possible, explain its vote only once, that is, either in the committee or in the plenary meeting, unless the delegation's vote in plenary meeting is different from its vote in the committee. I give the floor to the representative of the Russian Federation, who I understand will introduce an oral amendment to Draft Resolution 13 entitled Special Subjects Relating to the Proposed Program Budget for 2026.

Madam President, speaking on behalf of a group of countries, specifically Belarus, Venezuela, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the People's Republic of China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Sudan, and Eritrea, and my country, the Russian Federation, I wish to introduce an oral amendment to the draft resolution DR13 considered at the Fifth Committee under L.5 at the— in the report of the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, Title A, stroke 80, stroke 568, decides not to improve any resources for the implementation of resolutions S, 35 stroke 1, 51 stroke slash 29, 55 slash 19, 55 slash 21, 55 slash 23, 55 slash 27, 56 slash 17, 57 slash 2, 57 slash 20, 57/36, 58/17, 58/18, 58/19, 58/21, 58/24, 59/1, 60/3, and 60/21. Adopted by the Human Rights Council. Thank you for your attention.

I thank the representative of the Russian Federation. I now give the floor to the representative of Georgia. I now give the floor to the representative of Cuba.

Muchas gracias.

Thank you very much, Madam President. We requested the floor to introduce the following oral amendments to document A/80/580, particularly Section 17 of the draft resolution related to the special subjects of the program budget for 2026, which I will read in English.

The General Assembly has not decided on the concept of the responsibility to protect, its scope, implications, and possible forms of implementation, noting that the estimates of thematic cluster 1 comprise narratives, functions, strategy, and external factors, results, performance measures, derivables, or other information related to the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect; decides to delete the narratives, functions, strategy, and external factors, results, performance measures, derivables, and other information related to the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the responsibility to protect as contained in the strategic framework and related narrative of the Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide. Request the Secretary-General to issue a corrigendum to his report. En relación a estas propuestas—

With regard to this proposal, which we have submitted for more than a decade, Cuba reiterates its full and unequivocal support for the Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. However, we must once again highlight our disagreement with the inclusion of activities and results related to the responsibility to protect. There is no resolution within the framework of the United Nations establishing the post of Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect, which moreover seeks to promote a concept and create clear divisions, namely with regard to the responsibility to protect. Taking these elements into account, And once again, we would ask delegations to support these amendments. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Cuba, and I now give the floor to representative of Georgia.

Thank you, Madam President. We understand that the proposal to abolish the ASG position in Geneva, as recommended by the ACIBQ, aims to achieve cost efficiency through the reduction of senior-level posts. However, we considered it essential to maintain the ASG-level representation for UN representative to the Geneva international discussions to ensure the effective delivery of the mandate entrusted to this mission. Given the existing workload of the ASGs based in New York, we remain worried that allocating these functions from Geneva to New York-based ASG could negatively affect the effective execution of the UN Representative to the Geneva International Discussions mandate. In this context, we always supported retaining the ASG position in Geneva that is solely dedicated to the GID. We would like to use this occasion to underline again our appreciation for the language introduced by the like-minded group during negotiations. Which sought to preserve the ESG level of the UN representation. The Secretary-General's proposal does not explicitly clarify that the duties of the UNRGID would be assumed by an ESG based in New York. Rather, it refers to a senior-level DPPA/DPO official, which could imply either an ESG or lower-level positions. This ambiguity raises concerns regarding the continuity and authority required for effective mandate implementation. The Georgian delegation notes with regret that above-mentioned certain language on preserving the ESG level of UN representation in the Geneva international discussions, which we considered of utmost importance, was not retained in the final version of the resolution. However, having a strong expectation that the ESG will continue to represent the United Nations in the Geneva international discussions, and in the spirit of maintaining consensus, we will not call for a vote. Having said this, for the record, the delegation of Georgia wishes to place on record its disassociation exclusively with the absence of the language on preserving the ESG level of the UN representation in the Geneva international discussions. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Georgia. We have heard the last speaker in explanation of vote before the vote. Two oral amendments have been proposed to draft Resolution 13 entitled Special Subjects Relating to the Proposed Program Budget for 2026, one by the representative of the Russian Federation and one by the representative of Cuba. In accordance with Rule 90 of the Rules of Procedure, the Assembly will first take a decision in these oral amendments one by one. After action on all the oral amendments, the Assembly will then be invited to take a decision in one gavel pursuant to Resolution 79/327 on all the draft resolutions and decisions adopted by the Committee without a vote. In connection with Draft Resolution 13, entitled Special Subjects Relating to the Proposed Program Budget for 2026, the text of which for the time being is contained in document A/C.5/80/L.5, I now put to the vote the oral amendment submitted by the representative of the Russian Federation, on which a recorded vote has been requested. We shall now begin the voting process. Those in favor of the oral amendment proposed by the representative of the Russian Federation to draft Resolution 13, please signify. Those against? Abstentions?

The Assembly is now voting on the draft— on the oral amendment proposed by the representative of the Russian Federation to draft Resolution 13 entitled Special Subjects Relating to the post-program budget for 2026. Will all delegations confirm that their votes are accurately reflected on the screen? The voting has been completed. Please lock the machine.

The result of the vote is as follows: in favor, 14. Against 84, abstentions 53. The oral amendment proposed by the representative of the Russian Federation is not adopted. Also, in connection with Draft Resolution 13, entitled Special Subjects Relating to the Proposed Program Budget 2026, the text of which for the time being is contained in Document A/C.5/80 L.5. I now put to the vote the oral amendment proposed by the representative of Cuba, on which a recorded vote has been requested. We shall now begin the voting process. Those in favor of oral amendment proposed by the representative of Cuba to draft Resolution 13, please signify. Those against, abstentions.

The Assembly is now voting on the oral amendment proposed by the representative of Cuba to draft Resolution 13 entitled Special Subjects relating to the proposed program budget for 2026. Will all delegations confirm that their votes are correctly reflected on the screen? The voting has been completed. Please lock the machine.

The result of the vote is as follows: in favor, 20; against, 80. 2 abstentions, 52. The oral amendment submitted by the representative of Cuba is not adopted. The committee adopted draft resolutions 1 to 16 and draft decision 1 without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise? It is so decided. Before giving the floor for explanations of votes after the vote, may I remind members that they are strongly urged to limit explanations of vote to 5 minutes, which should in any case not exceed 10 minutes, and be made from their seats in accordance with Decisions 34/14 41, a delegation should, as far as possible, explain its vote only once, that is, either in the Committee or in plenary meeting, unless the delegation's vote in plenary meeting is different from its vote in the Committee. I now give the floor to the representative of the Russian Federation.

Thank you, Madam President. The Russian Federation wishes to state our views on the draft resolution DR-12 and DR-13 in the Fifth Committee report GA/80/568. The Russian Federation views the General Assembly resolution 71/248 as null and void, We fail to recognize the so-called investigative mechanism in Syria. In this connection, the Russian Federation disassociates itself from all of the provisions which mention the so-called investigative mechanism, the IIIM, for Syria, which was established in violation of the UN Charter. The Russian Federation also disassociates itself from all provisions which mention the so-called mechanism on missing persons in Syria, the Commission on Violations in Syria, also known as the PNYARU, Commission, uh, the establishment within the Office of Legal Affairs of the Secretariat, the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity Beyond Areas of National Jurisdiction, the, uh, on the ARJOSK Convention, whose resources are within the organizational structure of the UN Economic Commission for Europe. Furthermore, we disassociate ourselves from consensus on the matter of allocating resources for the politicized resolution of the Human Rights Council, which has nothing to do with reality, and nor does it have anything to do with an impartial consideration of the situation. I request that these remarks be put on the record. Thank you.

I thank the representative of the Russian Federation. We have heard the last speaker in explanation of vote after the vote. The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda items 133 to 137, 139, 142, 144 to 148, and 177. The Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of the report of the Fifth Committee before it. On behalf of the Assembly, I would like to thank Her Excellency Susanna Horváth of Hungary, Chair of the Fifth Committee, members of the Bureau, delegates, and the Committee Secretariat for a job well done. With regard to the program of work of the Assembly, apart from organizational matters, I should like to inform members that the following items remain open for consideration or have not yet been considered during the 80th session: agenda items 9 to 14, 18A to L, 19, 23B, 27 to 37, 39 to 45, 51, 58, 62A and B to 65A and B, 69B, 71B, 72A to D, 73, 75, 86, 88, 99, 108, 110 to 112, 113A and B, 114D, 115G, I, L, and M, 116 to 127, 129 to 159, 177, and 178. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to take note of those items that remain open for consideration during the 80th next session of the Assembly. It is so decided. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Happy New Year.