The resolution, first proposed by Australia, Canada, Israel, Russia and the United States, was co-sponsored by more than 90 countries. It was adopted by consensus.
January 27 commemorates the liberation of the Nazi death camps in Europe in 1945.
The resolution urges the assembly's 191 member states to put in place educational programs aimed at teaching future generations the lessons of the genocide so it will not be repeated in the future. In addition, it rejects any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event and calls on UN chief Kofi Annan to set up a Holocaust outreach program.