A/77/PV.55 General Assembly

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution entitled “Credentials of representatives to the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly”, recommended by the Credentials Committee. I now give the floor to the Chair of the Credentials Committee, Mrs. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett of Guyana.

On behalf of the Credentials Committee, I have the honour to introduce the report of the Credentials Committee concerning the credentials of the representatives to the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly, as contained in document A/77/600. The Committee had before it two communications each concerning the representation of Myanmar, the representation of Afghanistan and the representation of Libya to the seventy-seventh session of the Assembly. The Committee decided to postpone its consideration of the credentials pertaining to the representatives of Myanmar, Afghanistan and of Libya to the seventy- seventh session of the General Assembly and to revert to consideration of those credentials at a future time during the seventy-seventh session. Having considered the credentials of representatives of other Member States to the seventy-seventh session at its meeting on 12 December 2022, the Credentials Committee adopted without a vote a draft resolution accepting those credentials. The Committee also recommended to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft resolution entitled “credentials of representatives to the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly”, which is contained in paragraph 17 of the report. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the Committee and to the Secretariat for facilitating our work.

The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution entitled “Credentials of representatives to the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly”, recommended by the Credentials Committee in its report. May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt the draft resolution?

Before giving the floor to speakers in explanation of position after adoption, may I remind delegations that explanations are limited to 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats. I now give the floor to the representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

My delegation joined the consensus on the adoption of resolution 77/239, recommended by the Credentials Committee. We welcome the work of the Committee and the submission of its report (A/77/600). However, I would like to express my delegation’s reservation about the part of the report and of the resolution that could be construed as a recognition of the Israeli regime.

We have heard the only speaker in explanation of position on resolution 77/239. The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (b) of agenda item 3.

Members will recall that, at its 3rd plenary meeting, on 16 September 2022, the General Assembly decided to allocate agenda item 68 to the Third Committee. To enable the Assembly to take action expeditiously on the document, may I take it that the Assembly wishes to consider agenda item 68 directly in plenary meeting and proceed immediately to its consideration? It was so decided (decision 77/505).

I now give the floor to the representative of Brazil to introduce draft resolution A/77/L.37.

On behalf of the members of the core group — Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Mongolia, the Philippines and Portugal — Brazil has the honour to introduce draft resolution A/77/L.37, entitled “Promoting and Mainstreaming Easy to Understand Communication for Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities”. This first-of-its-kind United Nations draft resolution seeks to integrate easy to understand communication into existing United Nations processes, while calling for its further development worldwide. Easy to understand communication is acknowledged as a form of communication by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and represents an accessibility tool to create versions of documents that are more understandable by persons with intellectual disabilities. It is an umbrella term for processes that include texts written in Plain Language, Easy Read and similar initiatives. Τhe draft resolution puts forward the following concrete actions. First, it decides to hold a General Assembly meeting on easy-to-understand communication on the margins of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to be held in June 2023. We look forward to seizing the opportunity to share good practices, exchange views and discuss how better to use easy-to-understand communication to enable the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities worldwide. Secondly, the draft resolution requests the Secretary- General to address easy-to-understand communication in existing reports and present recommendations to further advance it in our countries and in the United Nations system itself. Thirdly, it requests the Secretariat to produce a version of the draft resolution we are about to adopt in easy-to-understand communication, which will be done in the six official languages of the United Nations. The first version of this draft resolution was developed in close coordination with representative organizations. I would like to acknowledge the important contributions, throughout the process, of the International Disability Alliance, Inclusion International and the Brazilian Network for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (Rede-In). Thanks to further collaboration with Rede-In, and while celebrating our commitment to multilingualism and inclusion, I have the honour to announce that Brazil will make available an easy-to-understand version of this draft resolution in Portuguese as well. We encourage other Member States to take similar steps towards making this milestone more broadly accessible by persons with intellectual disabilities in as many languages as possible. We thank all Member States for their constructive engagement in turning the zero draft into the current action-oriented text we have before us today  — for instance, through the inclusion of important new language that integrates easy-to-understand communication into existing United Nations processes, such as the Steering Committee on Accessibility of Persons with Disabilities and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly. Allow me to express my particular gratitude to Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Mongolia, the Philippines and Portugal, which, with Brazil, are part of the core group engaged in this draft resolution. We also thank all Member States for their strong support to this topic and for the many co-sponsorships, which do us great honour. I would also like to warmly thank the Secretariat for its valuable support during the negotiation process. I would like to thank in particular the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management, the Office of Programme Planning, Finance and Budget, as well as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Easy-to-understand communication processes realize the right of accessibility for persons with intellectual disabilities and promote social inclusion. Bearing that in mind, we believe this initiative is an important step towards raising awareness and including everyone in United Nations processes. In our day-to-day work at the United Nations, in the pursuit of consensus, we draw on language and structures that unfortunately seem to be making our documents, increasingly, the most complex possible. As a result, we unintentionally make the important work we do here, in some cases, unavailable to many.

The Assembly will now take action on draft resolution A/77/L.37, entitled “Promoting and mainstreaming easy-to-understand communication for accessibility for persons with disabilities”. I give the floor to the representative of the Secretariat.

I should like to announce that, since the submission of draft resolution A/77/L.37 and in addition to the delegations listed in the document, the following countries have become sponsors of the draft resolution: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, the Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt draft resolution A/77/L.37?

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 68?

Members will recall that, at its 3rd plenary meeting, on 16 September 2022, the General Assembly decided to allocate agenda item 109 to the Third Committee. To enable the Assembly to take action expeditiously on the document, may I take it that the Assembly wishes to consider agenda item 109 directly in plenary meeting and proceed immediately to its consideration? It was so decided (decision 77/505).

I now give the floor to the representative of Norway to introduce draft resolution A/77/L.29.

On behalf of the main sponsors, Brazil and my own country, Norway, I have the honour to introduce draft resolution A/77/L.29, entitled “International Day of Police Cooperation”. The three pillars of the United Nations — peace and security, human rights and sustainable development — all depend on effective and accountable law enforcement for their realization. As the primary point of contact between the public and State authority, police and law enforcement institutions uphold the peace and ensure rights, and thereby enable development. To do so successfully in today’s increasingly globalized world, international cooperation is imperative. Many of today’s most pressing threats — organized crime, cybercrime and terrorism, to mention just a few  — are defined in part by their international nature. To counter them, our response must be commensurate. A crucial part of those efforts is awareness- raising. Enhancing knowledge among practitioners, policymakers and the public at large builds the support and solidarity required for effective international action to counter cross-border crime. That is precisely why we, together with Brazil, have introduced this draft resolution to establish an International Day of Police Cooperation. The draft resolution reaffirms resolution 70/1, which adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, while recognizing the contribution of law enforcement to the broader 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It further recognizes that different levels of policing capabilities exist among Member States, thereby affecting their ability to prevent and combat criminal activity and, in that regard, calls for international cooperation on capacity-building and technical assistance, while also mainstreaming a gender perspective and respecting human rights. And it emphasizes the need to strengthen international cooperation at the global, regional and subregional levels in various areas related to preventing and combating transnational crime. The draft resolution proposes 7 September as the International Day of Police Cooperation. The date chosen serves to commemorate the founding of INTERPOL, the world’s only global organization for international police cooperation. The draft resolution invites all Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, other international and regional organizations and civil society to observe the International Day and to continue to give consideration to enhancing international cooperation in support of national police and law enforcement agencies. On behalf of the main sponsors, Norway and Brazil, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the representatives of all the Member States who actively took part in the consultation process for their constructive inputs to the draft resolution. We also thank the Office of the Special Representative of INTERPOL to the United Nations and the members of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Policing for the excellent technical advice they provided throughout the negotiations. Those collective contributions helped forge consensus on the present draft resolution, ultimately strengthening international police cooperation efforts worldwide to confront today’s most pressing challenges.

The Assembly will now take action on draft resolution A/77/L.29, entitled “International Day of Police Cooperation”. I give the floor to the representative of the Secretariat.

I should like to announce that, since the submission of draft resolution A/77/L.29 and in addition to the delegations listed in the document, the following countries have become sponsors of the draft resolution: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, China, Colombia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Maldives, Paraguay, the Philippines, the Russian Federation and the United Republic of Tanzania.

May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt draft resolution A/77/L.29?

I now give the floor to the observer of the International Criminal Police Organization.

I address the General Assembly today in support of the General Assembly resolution establishing an International Day of Police Cooperation (resolution 77/241). This Day is the first of its kind, celebrating the efforts of law enforcement working together to protect citizens by preventing and countering transnational organized crime. United Nations international days are important advocacy tools to shed light on matters that require our attention, concern or, in this case, appreciation. Indeed, this resolution serves as a reminder that the work of law enforcement remains vital to maintaining international peace and security. In the words of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, “we will not enjoy security without development, and we will not enjoy development without security  — and we will not enjoy either without respect for human rights”. As illustrated through the resolution’s reference to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the endeavours of national, regional and international policing organizations provide the foundation of safety and stability upon which sustainable development can be built. The resolution also duly reflects the essential work undertaken by the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Policing to mainstream a gender perspective and respect for human rights throughout their projects and initiatives, including their valuable efforts to strengthen the capacities of Member States, deliver technical assistance and improve coordination. As criminal groups and terrorist networks continue to expand their influence and exploit existing vulnerabilities and new and emerging technologies for illicit purposes, that cooperation continues to be of the utmost importance. Against that backdrop, the International Criminal Police Organization is proud to work with our United Nations partners and the General Assembly, our shared membership, in connecting police for a safer world. As we approach INTERPOL’s centenary, on 7 September 2023, we recognize that this is an opportune moment to reflect on the impacts and contributions of law enforcement in working together to keep up with the evolving criminal landscape. We must use this initiative to not only celebrate their achievements and acknowledge their sacrifices, but also to recognize that sustained political will and multidisciplinary approaches are needed to more holistically support police and law enforcement bodies in addressing today’s most pressing global issues. I would therefore like to thank the resolution’s co-facilitators, Norway and Brazil, for their dedication to this initiative. Through their hard work and diligence and with the support of the United Nations and its Member States, this resolution reinforces the value of information-sharing, mutual assistance and cross-border collaboration in facing our collective security challenges. The partnership between the United Nations and INTERPOL, recently renewed during the third review of the General Assembly resolution on cooperation between our two organizations (resolution 77/20), adopted last month, ensures that the Assembly’s investment in us will continue to foster comprehensive, multilateral approaches to global peace and security. We therefore look forward to assisting our United Nations partners in facilitating the observance of this International Day next year and in the many years to come.

We have heard the only speaker for this item. May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 109?