General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

Palestine refugees were living proof of a conflict unresolved across generations and a contemporary symbol of the difficulties of peacemaking and the high cost of its failures, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it began its consideration of the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The limits of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees were being severely tested by a combination of the unparalleled emergency in Syria and the persistence of all the other crises around the world, the head of that agency told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today as it considered refugee-related issues.

Commending progress and assessing shortcomings, the Sixth Committee (Legal) today took up the Secretary-General’s report on the administration of justice at the United Nations, and considered a request for observer status.

People and institutions with “deep pockets” were more likely to invest in businesslike models effecting social change because they tended to be more efficient and results-oriented, Tokunboh Ishmael, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Alitheia Capital, told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) took up the pattern of conferences today, delegates stressed the need for improvements to the system of preparing documents, calling for more timely availability of documentation in all six official United Nations languages and for higher quality translation.

The General Assembly today unanimously adopted two draft resolutions: one on the 2012 report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and another regarding sports and peace and development.

The right to self-determination was an integral element of basic human rights and fundamental freedoms, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today as it concluded its general discussion on that subject, and on the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

Risk reduction and prevention were crucial to the “protection of persons in the event of disasters”, emphasized speakers in the Sixth Committee (Legal), as deliberations concluded on a broad range of issues from the International Law Commission’s report.

Financial resources remained the “lifeblood” to meeting development goals, the General Assembly President told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today as it concluded its general debate on sustainable development.

As the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) session drew to a close today, Committee Chair Ibrahim Dabbashi of Libya said that the “record-breaking” number of statements delivered during the general and thematic debates indicated an increase in international awareness on the issues of disarmament and international security, as well as more dynamic participation by the delegations.