The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today began examining the proposed compensation package for the United Nations system, including a more performance-linked pay system, a single pay scale for staff with or without dependents, as well as implementation of the new retirement age of 65 for existing staff by 1 January 2017.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this afternoon to hear the introduction of four draft resolutions relating to a centre in Central Africa, Nazism, the right of the Palestinian People to self-determination and the situation in Syria, with the latter triggering comments from some speakers opposed to country-specific texts.
Continuing their debate on the third cluster of topics from the report of the International Law Commission, Sixth Committee (Legal) delegates today sought clarity and balance on a broad array of elements covered by the three diverse subjects under discussion.
Approving a draft resolution on the peaceful uses of outer space today, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) also concluded its general debate on the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as delegations voiced their concerns about the plight of the refugees and the Agency’s financial sustainability.
The “historic” and popular uprising led by Palestinian youth now into its second month had brought the Middle East question back to the forefront of the international conversation, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine told the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People today as it approved four draft texts to be considered by the General Assembly.
Following the Sixth Committee’s (Legal) concluding deliberations on the second cluster of topics from the annual report of the International Law Commission, the Chairman of that body introduced topics from the third and final cluster, before delegates embarked on their debate of those matters.
With conflicts expanding in the Middle East, thrusting one community after another into extreme insecurity, Palestine refugees remained among the most marginalized due to Israel’s ongoing occupation and the absence of sustainable, predictable funding, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it took up the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
In support of United Nations development activities, primarily covering 2015, 16 countries pledged approximately $77 million today at a Headquarters event. The amount represented a dramatic decline in comparison to pledges in 2014 of $560 million.
The General Assembly today elected 23 members to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and one member to the Economic and Social Council, while appointing members of the Committee on Conferences and the Joint Inspection Unit.
Against the backdrop of an increasingly “grim” and “complex” global security landscape, special political missions — with their rapid, nimble and tailored approaches — were a key part of the United Nations peace operations toolbox, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it took up the matter in a half-day debate.
