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The international community must act swiftly and concretely to confront the root causes of violent extremism, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, underlining the need to address terrorism through more comprehensive and holistic efforts.

The theme of this year’s annual high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly was the post-2015 agenda of global sustainable development but it was by no means the only subject of the speeches as kings, presidents and prime ministers mounted the podium to speak on behalf of 193 Member States and two Observer delegations.

Noting that small island developing nations must speak with one voice at the global level, representatives of those countries today pressed for international economic partnerships and efforts to combat climate change, on the final day of the annual General Assembly debate in New York.

Addressing the General Assembly this morning, Suriname’s Foreign Minister Winston Guno Lackin called on the United Nations to “develop the muscles” needed to democratize itself and move away from the “restrictive” veto power.

The global humanitarian system has become dangerously overburdened as it faces a widening front of crises and conflicts, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned today, as he urged a rethink of how the international community will confront the growing challenges of the 21st century.

With the international community heading into a “momentous” year, in which a sustainable development framework will be crafted, the Minister of Home and Cultural Affairs of Bhutan told the United Nations today that the new agenda will be truly transformative only if it is grounded in the real needs of countries and promotes meaningful change.

In order to promote economic recovery and prevent pensionable citizens from relapsing into poverty, social protections must be placed at the forefront of the future development agenda currently being elaborated by Member States, says the United Nations labour agency.

Two United Nations agencies have reached more than half a million people, including 100,000 children under the age of five, in the most remote and conflict-hit areas of South Sudan with life-saving supplies and services.

Amid a climbing death toll and widespread panic, the Ebola outbreak continues to ravage West Africa leaving thousands of orphaned children in its wake, an official for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today, as a fortified UN mission arrived in the region to confront and contain the growing crisis.

As the international community lays the foundation for a sustainable development agenda that will follow the Millennium Development Goals in 2016, the Foreign Minister of Belarus today urged the United Nations General Assembly to make globalization more even and equitable than it has been up to now.