General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

Rather than letting cultural differences create divisions, the international community now had the opportunity to integrate cultural traditions into a post-2015 development agenda that would bolster human rights and spur economic growth, speakers said today as the General Assembly held its High-level Thematic Debate on Culture and Development.

The fact that AIDS was “no longer a certain death sentence” proved that by working together and scaling up urgency and commitment, the international community stood a chance of ridding the world of the epidemic, the representative of the United States said today, as the General Assembly concluded its implementation review of the Declaration of Commitment and the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.

Meeting in resumed session today, the Special Committee on Decolonization approved three draft resolutions on various aspects of information relating to the Non-Self-Governing Territories under its purview.

The General Assembly today welcomed the Secretary-General’s report on expediting United Nations efforts to bring the global AIDS epidemic fully under control, deciding to include that question as an item on the agenda of its sixty-eighth session.

States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination elected nine members to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination today, replacing colleagues whose four-year terms are set to expire on 19 January 2014.

A senior Secretariat official asked the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today to meet the start-up requirements of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) by approving $454.43 million in financing for the 25 April to 31 December 2013 period.

Pointing to the further deterioration of Syria’s security situation, a senior Secretariat official asked the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today for an extra $8 million to maintain the United Nations peacekeeping operation stationed in the Golan Heights.

Acting on the recommendation of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the General Assembly today appointed Thomas David Smith (United Kingdom) as a member of the Committee on Contributions for a term of office beginning on 21 May 2013 and ending on 31 December 2014.

Palestinians were “exerting every possible effort” to ensure the success of current efforts to re-start peace negotiations with Israel, their lead negotiator told the Palestinian Rights Committee today.

The General Assembly, working through its busy agenda, today adopted five resolutions and one decision on a wide range of items, including on the self-determination of French Polynesia and on peace and cooperation in the South Atlantic.