UN General Assembly decides to postpone or cancel pre-scheduled meetings due to COVID-19

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations General Assembly on Monday adopted decisions to either postpone or cancel pre-scheduled meetings due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In accordance with General Assembly decision 74/544 entitled 'Procedure for taking decisions of the General Assembly during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic,' the General Assembly adopted the following decisions today," said a press note obtained by Xinhua.

The UNGA decided to postpone the "14th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice" until further notice and to consider new dates in due course. The congress was scheduled to take place in Kyoto, Japan, from April 20 to 27, 2020, with pre-congress consultations to be held on April 19, 2020.

Besides, "Fourth Conference of Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones and Mongolia, 2020," which was scheduled to be held at UN headquarters in New York on April 24, 2020, will be postponed to a period in 2021 to be decided by the General Assembly at its 75th session.

The conference entitled "2020 United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development," which was due to be held in Lisbon, from June 2 to 6, 2020, was also postponed to a later date to be decided by the General Assembly.

In addition, the "Interactive dialogue on Harmony with Nature" is cancelled. It was scheduled to be held during the 74th session of the General Assembly.