General Assembly Adopts 10-Year Action Plan for Landlocked Developing Countries, Cybercrime Treaty, $3.72 Billion UN Budget for 2025
Concluding the main part of its seventy-ninth session today, the General Assembly adopted a 10-year action programme to address the unique challenges faced by landlocked developing countries, a historic cybercrime convention and the $3.72 billion United Nations budget for 2025.
Adopting a draft resolution titled Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2024–2034 (document A/79/L.21), the Assembly called upon all relevant stakeholders to commit to implementing the instrument, which outlines a series of commitments for action across five priority areas, namely: structural transformation and science, technology and innovation; trade, trade facilitation and regional integration; transit, transport and connectivity; enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change and disasters; and means of implementation.
The Programme of Action was initially scheduled for adoption at the third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in 2024, but the event has been postponed twice. New dates and the venue are yet to be announced.
The 2025 regular budget of $3.72 billion, recommended by the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), is about $100 million more than the budget proposal laid out by the Secretary-General in October. The Assembly also adopted other draft resolutions contained in the report of the Fifth Committee, including texts concerning financing of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals as well as the Organization’s pension system (see Press Release GA/AB/4487).
Additionally, the Assembly adopted several draft resolutions that entail expenditures for their implementation. These include five texts put forward by the First Committee (Disarmament & International Security): “Open-ended working group on security of and in the use of information and communications technologies 2021–2025 established pursuant to General Assembly resolution 75/240” (document A/79/403); “Nuclear war effects and scientific research” (document A/79/408) “Artificial intelligence in the military domain and its implications for international peace and security (document A/79/408)”; “Group of Scientific and Technical Experts on Nuclear Disarmament Verification” (document A/79/408); and “Comprehensive study of the question of nuclear-weapon-free zones in all its aspects” (document A/79/408).
They also included three draft resolutions put forward by the Second Committee (Economic & Financial), concerning “Promotion of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development” (document A/79/435/Add.4); “Promotion of inclusive and effective international cooperation on tax matters at the United Nations”; (document A/79/435/Add.4) and “South-South cooperation for development” (document A/79/442/Add.2).
Also adopted were two texts forwarded by the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian & Cultural), including a text on “United Nations Convention against Cybercrime; Strengthening International Cooperation for Combating Certain Crimes Committed by Means of Information and Communications Technology Systems and for the Sharing of Evidence in Electronic Form of Serious Crimes” (document A/79/460) and another regarding “Preventing and combating corrupt practices and the transfer of proceeds of corruption, facilitating asset recovery and returning such assets to legitimate owners, in particular to countries of origin, in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Corruption” (document A/79/459).
The United Nations Convention against Cybercrime is the outcome of five years of painstaking work by Member States, said the Russian Federation’s delegate. Even though “negotiations were tense”, with certain countries using dubious methods to undermine the process and extort political pressure, he stressed that the adopted treaty is a strong foundation for combating crimes using information and communications technology. “However, this universal treaty should not stand still,” he asserted, underscoring that “it needs to further evolve” by developing additional protocols.
It is the first international legal instrument that governs cyberspace and exemplifies the UN’s multilateral approach to tackling global challenges, echoed his counterpart from Viet Nam. The Convention bridges the divide by fostering collaboration between nations. It is a collective accomplishment by all Member States, regardless of size, development level and geographical region, he said, welcoming that Hanoi was chosen as the venue for the signing ceremony in 2025.
The Assembly then adopted draft resolution “Investigation into the conditions and circumstances resulting in the tragic death of Dag Hammarskjöld and of the members of the party accompanying him” (document A/79/L.26).
By its terms, the Assembly urged all Member States — in particular those referred to in the report — to release any relevant records in their possession and to provide to the Eminent Person and the Secretary-General relevant information related to the death of Dag Hammarskjöld and the members of the party accompanying him and ensure that they have conducted a full review of their archives and records. Further, it requested the Secretary-General to reappoint the Eminent Person to continue to review the information received and possible new information made available by Member States and continue to work towards making key documents of the Dag Hammarskjöld investigation publicly available through a dedicated online collection.
In his closing remarks, Assembly President Philemon Yang (Cameroon) congratulated all delegates for their hard work and commitment to multilateralism during the past four months of intense discussions and negotiations, in which many important decisions were taken to consolidate the action and presence of the UN worldwide. Noting that the programme budget implications of the Pact for the Future were just approved, he added that in January, his Office will launch several activities aimed at strengthening multilateralism and accelerating the implementation of the Pact. He also commended States for their continued support to the resident coordinator system, which has proven its worth as a mechanism to help accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.