General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

The General Assembly would request the Secretary-General to work towards convening a high-level meeting on ensuring accessibility for, and inclusion of, persons with disabilities in all aspects of development efforts, under the terms of a draft resolution approved by consensus today by the Third Committee.

The General Assembly, through elections and appointments, today filled vacancies in the Committee for Programme and Coordination, the main subsidiary body of the Assembly and the Economic and Social Council for such work, as well as in the Committee on Conferences, which advises the Assembly on all matters pertaining to the organization of United Nations conferences.

The international community needed to prevent a total collapse of the direct negotiations on the Palestinian track, and an end to the occupation and the return of refugees could serve as a “doorway” to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, delegates told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today.

In his first address to the General Assembly, the new head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today he aimed to change the widespread perception of the Vienna-based body as simply the world’s “nuclear watchdog”, emphasizing instead a balanced approach to pursuing non-proliferation of atomic weapons and the peaceful use of nuclear energy, two of the three pillar objectives of the landmark 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Twenty-one Member States pledged approximately $470 million today at an event in support of United Nations development activities for 2011.

Despite a “façade” of actively pursuing peace, Israel continued to infringe on the basic human rights of the Palestinians and inflict “untold suffering” through a blockade that prevented the flow of goods and people, even in life-and-death situations, undermining any future prospects for a peaceful settlement, delegates told the Fourth Committee today, as it began its annual discussion of Israeli practices affecting the human rights of Arabs in the occupied territories.

Acting by consensus without a vote, the Sixth Committee (Legal) approved a total of 10 draft resolutions today, among them four relating to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and one to the responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts. The Committee also took note of the report of the terrorism working group and heard the introduction of three additional draft resolutions.

As it moved to fill upcoming vacancies on five bodies that support its work in overseeing the Organization’s human resources and budget, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today recommended six people, whose names it will send to the General Assembly, to fill slots opening up in January on the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) took action today on three draft resolutions — all adopted without a vote — that would have the General Assembly welcome the establishment of UN Women, declare 23 June every year International Widows’ Day and condemn all forms of violence against women and girls.

Israel’s continuing restrictions on Palestinian movement and access to natural resources, its expansion of settlements, and its military offensive against the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009 had deepened the hardship suffered by the Palestinians, Amr Nour, Director of the United Nations Regional Commissions New York Office, told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.