Reform of the Security Council, long overdue, needed to reflect current political realities, delegates told the General Assembly today as it held its annual debate on the matter and the manner in which that body could become a more democratic, transparent and effective organ, tasked with delivering worldwide peace and security.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this morning to introduce a package of draft resolutions on a broad range of measures aimed at tackling pressing issues, including monitoring mercenaries, combating intolerance and human rights reporting on Syria.
The General Assembly today voted to retain mention of Syria in a resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), as it took action on seven resolutions on cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations.
Eight years after they gave the go-ahead for the massive, $2.21 billion-dollar renovation of the United Nations historic Headquarters building, delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) aired their concerns about financing nearly $155 million in additional costs, plans to make the Library and South Annex buildings secure, and the dismantling of the temporary North Lawn Building.
Twenty-six countries pledged approximately $560 million during a Headquarters event, in support of United Nations development activities, which primarily covered 2015. The amount represents an increase of approximately $72 million in comparison to last year’s pledges.
In a single secret ballot today, the General Assembly elected Australia, Finland and Switzerland to the Economic and Social Council, the body responsible for addressing global economic, social and environmental challenges.
With extremist ideology “spreading like a malignant disease” across the Middle East, Israel was on the “frontline” of combatting the enemy, and while it might be convenient to point fingers at it that did not address the heart of the problem, the country’s representative told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today.
Nearing the end of formal deliberations in the sixty-ninth session, the Sixth Committee (Legal) took action today on four draft resolutions and heard oral reports by the Chairs of two working groups.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today recomended personnel apppointments to fill upcoming vacancies in the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) and four other bodies that help manage the United Nations vast human resources and its finances.
The General Assembly failed to elect the fifth remaining member today to the International Court of Justice. After seven rounds of voting, which were held concurrently of, but independently from, the voting process in the Security Council, the final choice between the two bodies did not concur.
