Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all nations on Wednesday to stand united against terrorism, calling it "the scourge of our times."
But he said the United Nations will not be deterred in its mission "to help those most in need."
In a live video address from Bali, Indonesia, to the 192-member General Assembly, Ban expressed "shock and outrage" at Tuesday's twin truck bombings in Algiers by an affiliate of al-Qaida that targeted U.N. offices and a government building killing at least 31 people.
"Let us know that this attack on the U.N. is an attack on us all and our highest ideals," he said. "I call on this General Assembly to stand united. We must all condemn this deed, just as we must work, together, to bring its vile perpetrators to justice."
Diplomats in the General Assembly hall responded to the secretary-general's brief speech with applause.
Ban said the dead were still being counted and the wounded were still being treated.
The U.N. Wednesday provided a list of nine staff confirmed to have died in the bombing and whose families have been notified. The list includes six Algerians, one Senegalese, one Danish and one from the Philippines.
U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said at a press briefing at U.N. headquarters that the situation on the ground is fluid and quite confusing. She said there are still people missing, and as the search and rescue mission continues they will update these figures.
U.N. officials on Tuesday had said at least 11 of the world body's staff members were killed. Okabe, however, said the 11 dead was a preliminary figure and that officials are now counting only those who are confirmed dead and whose families have been notified.
"We have available now a list of U.N. staff who are confirmed to have died and whose families have been notified," Okabe said. "These include staff from the International Labor Organizations, the U.N. refugee agency, the World Food Program, the U.N. Development Program, the U.N. Population Fund and the Department of Safety and Security."
Rescuers on Tuesday were able to pull to two U.N. employees from under the rubble and both are now receiving medical treatment.
"At this point hopes for finding anymore survivors in the rubble have dimmed and the local authorities have started to use heavy machinery to clear the site," Okabe said.
The secretary-general said he spoke to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika Wednesday evening to express his condolences, and asked him to take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the U.N. personnel.
Ban said he also sent several of his top aides to Algiers, including Kemal Dervis, the head of the U.N. Development Program, to determine how best to aid those injured in the attack and their families.
"In Algiers, we have today one more ugly reminder that terrorism remains the scourge of our times," Ban said. "The international community must be resolute in opposing those who prey on the innocent and vulnerable and those, like the United Nations, who seek only to help them."
With at least nine United Nations workers among the dead, the attack was the worst against staff of the world body since an August 2003 bombing at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad killed 22, including the top U.N. envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Ban recalled that attack, saying "The Baghdad attack will not deter us. Neither will this most recent attack. Our colleagues in Algiers would ask no less."
About 175 U.N. employees worked in Algeria, including about 115 locally based staff, Okabe said.
Before Tuesday, more than 250 U.N. civilian employees had been killed either by violence or in accidents since January 1992, when such record-keeping began, U.N. officials said. Those figures do not include the deaths of U.N. staff from peacekeeping missions.
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Associated Press Writer Carley Petesch contributed to this report from the United Nations.
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