“We have accomplished much,” Joseph Deiss, the president of the General Assembly's 65^th session, said in his closing remarks to the 193-member body as he outlined some of the highlights of the past year.

The session kicked off last September with a high-level meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the eight ambitious targets set that aim to slash hunger and poverty, maternal and infant mortality, a host of diseases and lack of access to education and health care, all by 2015.

The 66^th session of the General Assembly opened on September 13 under the chairmanship by the incoming president, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar.

Development-related topics, including AIDS and youth, were highlighted throughout the year, as well as issues such as the green economy and sustainable development.

The General Assembly president made a number of recommendations which he said would help the UN be "strong and capable of making a difference." This included determining the common interest, defending basic values, and responding to the real concerns of peoples.