The foundations and content of the post-2015 development agenda, and its connections to international peace and security, were debated today as the General Assembly took up the Secretary-General’s annual report card on the work of the Organization.
Decolonization had been one of the “most defining issues” of the latter part of the twentieth century and beyond owing to the United Nations’ “untiring” efforts, but with 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories still on the Organization’s list, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today heard calls for completing the process through a common endeavour in the spirit of cooperation among all parties involved.
The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) met today in a brief organizational meeting to adopt its agenda and work programme for the sixty-ninth General Assembly session.
As the world celebrated the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the situation on the ground was deteriorating, with the summer’s conflict in Gaza having caused the worst impact on civilians of all that had preceded it, and Israel continuing to expand settlements, the Palestinian Rights Committee stressed.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today adopted the work programme for its sixty-ninth session and began its examination of the Secretary-General’s budget proposal for the United Nations operation to fight the Ebola outbreak, the Organization’s first-ever emergency health mission.
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), in a brief organizational meeting today, approved its work programme for the new session, which contains more than a dozen topics for consideration, including questions relating to peacekeeping, information, outer space, the effects of atomic radiation and the granting of independence to Non-Self-Governing Territories and peoples.
Leaders had taken to the world stage since 24 September to spotlight hopes and gains, as well as profound concerns, at the start of a session that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said could be the “most consequential” in a generation.
A geographically and sociopolitically diverse group of Heads of State sounded the alarm today about the unprecedented combination of challenges facing the troubled Middle East that was taking “terror to a new era and a new level”, as the General Assembly continued its high-level debate.
