Fourth Committee

Fourth Committee concludes work with the approval of nine draft resolutions on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and Israeli practices, another on peacekeeping, and a draft decision on its work, forwarding a total of 28 texts to the General Assembly.

The work of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation affected decisions in several domains, including energy, waste management, radiation medicine, and the protection of the public, workers and the environment, the Fourth Committee heard today as it approved a draft resolution on atomic radiation, concluding its consideration of that subject.

On a day in which the Fourth Committee heard many speakers denounce Israel’s policies and activities as “shrinking the window” of opportunity for a two-State solution and describe the Occupied Palestinian Territory as the “largest prison in the world”, that delegation discredited the discussion, calling it one-sided, inflammatory rhetoric constantly disrupting the Committee’s work.

Highlighting “one deeply troubling conclusion” from the advance report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices, its Chairman told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today that its several egregious findings this year might amount to a strategy to either force the Palestinian people off their land or so severely marginalize them as to establish and maintain a system of permanent suppression.

Debate today in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) amplified a wide range of issues underpinning improvement in both the operational and doctrinal aspects of peacekeeping, including the need to address deficiencies in staff, funding and equipment, the value of further engaging regional and subregional organizations, and the multidimensional aspect of peacekeeping mandates that might now encompass human rights, civilian protection and peacebuilding components.

The rapidly growing number of refugees was complicating the task of finding a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today during the conclusion of its debate on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), even as delegates disagreed on how the refugee question should be resolved.

It was not only politically risky but also morally wrong to reduce the services provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it began its consideration of that Agency.

Given the undiminished demand for United Nations peacekeeping, “business as usual” must be replaced by innovative and multidimensional approaches, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it continued its comprehensive review of peacekeeping and concluded its consideration of the peaceful uses of outer space, the latter, with the approval of two draft texts.

Despite the low cost of peacekeeping, its rewards were very high, as evidenced by the decline of casualties in conflicts and the restoration of confidence for economic activities, the Fourth Committee heard today as it began its comprehensive review of peacekeeping operations, with briefings by the heads of the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support.

More than any other institution, the Department of Public Information understood that the media could either be the messenger of peace and tolerance or of misunderstanding and hatred, the Fourth Committee was told today as it concluded its consideration of questions relating to information, with the approval of two draft resolutions and one draft decision.