General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) concluded its work today, approving a total of 62 draft resolutions, which were expected to be taken up by the General Assembly the following month.

By the terms of one of six draft resolutions that the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) approved this afternoon, the General Assembly would express serious concern at the lack of progress in the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations and would reiterate the call for the necessary flexibility and political will needed to break the current impasse in the negotiations.

As the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved 18 draft resolutions, with 14 without a vote, delegations voiced concerns regarding four texts including one on the report of the Human Rights Council, debating whether that body had been politicized, thus undermining its legitimacy and credibility.

Offering a range of solutions for moving the Middle East peace process forward, while regretting the steps backward due to escalation of violence in recent months, the General Assembly adopted six draft resolutions today by recorded vote on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East overall.

This year of solidarity with the Palestinians, in which the international community sought to achieve their right to live as a free people in their homeland, had instead seen the peace process collapse and conditions deteriorate due to Israel’s illegal actions, the General Assembly heard today as it opened an annual two-day debate on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East.

Approving a new draft resolution on protecting children from bullying, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) took action on and sent a total of 14 draft texts to the General Assembly.

“We cannot paper over the differences and the difficulties that we face today,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon told delegations gathered to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

Politicization of children’s rights should be avoided and national sovereignty and values should be respected, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today as it approved 10 draft texts, including a new one on the rights of the child.

Parliamentarians from around the world joined diplomats and United Nations officials at Headquarters today to discuss ways of advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process towards a two-State solution, a goal Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said could still be achieved if the parties, supported by the international community, demonstrated collective political will needed to implement the existing constructive proposals.

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today took stock of the planned refurbishment of the Palais des Nations in Geneva, delegates stressed the need to control costs and integrate the expertise gained during the massive renovation of the Organization’s New York Headquarters.