Lack of political will on the part of an “elite few” continued to threaten efforts to reform the Security Council, the General Assembly heard today, as delegates warned that the resulting inertia risked jeopardizing the 15‑member organ’s credibility and that of the entire United Nations system.
After approving two draft resolutions addressing the effects of armed conflicts on treaties and a request for observer status for a fund supporting indigenous matters, the Sixth Committee (Legal) capped off its penultimate meeting of the current session with delegates reflecting on how best to improve the Committee’s working methods, especially its scheduling.
Speakers welcomed new initiatives in translation services and the recruitment and training of language professionals, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budget) today discussed ways to manage United Nations conferences and official document production more efficiently.
Urging broader support for new financing mechanisms, delegates warned today of a humanitarian crisis should the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) be forced to scale back services because of a financing deficit, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its general debate on that Agency’s work.
Some 20 countries pledged a total of $398.98 million at today’s United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities, reflecting a significant decrease from 2016.
In spite of broad support from Member States, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) had been unable to gain access to a more equitable share of the United Nations regular budget, its Commissioner-General told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today.
After hearing the oral reports of two Working Groups, the Sixth Committee (Legal) approved without a vote two draft resolutions and deferred a request for observer status.
Sending a total of 58 draft resolutions and decisions to the General Assembly, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today concluded its seventy‑second session with the approval of a draft on the implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and of Their Destruction.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budget) today considered the Secretariat’s request for a subvention of $10.4 million to keep the international component of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia running smoothly in 2018.
While some speakers welcomed the Human Rights Council’s efforts to investigate alleged violations in countries ranging from Myanmar to South Sudan to Yemen, others voiced concern that selectivity had begun to creep into its agenda and working methods, as the General Assembly began its annual consideration of the 11‑year‑old intergovernmental body.
