General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

With some 2.5 million people in Syria urgently needing assistance, the humanitarian situation was deteriorating, both in that strife-torn nation and in neighbouring countries affected by the nearly 19-month-old crisis, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, as he briefed the General Assembly on the latest political, security and human rights conditions characterizing the crisis.

The United Nations Review Conference continued today with representatives of firearms associations throwing into sharp relief the distinction between legal civilian ownership of weapons and the devastating illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, as speakers underscored the right of individuals — and women in particular — to defend themselves against violence.

Significant progress had been made over the past years in regional efforts to implement the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons, delegates heard today as the second Review Conference on the implementation of that instrument entered its second day.

The international community must redouble efforts to root out the culture of fear, suffering and chaos — as well as prevent an estimated 500,000 deaths a year — that still resulted from the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson emphasized today during the opening of the second international review conference aimed specifically at curbing those devastating effects.

Expressing serious concern over a deteriorating humanitarian situation, as well as evictions and demolitions of homes, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People would continue to call on the Security Council and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to hold Israel accountable, its Chair said today.

Gravely concerned by the escalating violence in Syria, the General Assembly today strongly condemned Damascus’ indiscriminate use of heavy weapons in civilian areas and its widespread violations of human rights, demanding that all parties “immediately and visibly” commit to ending a conflict that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called “a test of everything this Organization stands for”.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women concluded its work today by adopting observations and recommendations arising from its consideration of eight country reports that it took up during its fifty-second session. Under consideration during the three-week session were periodic reports submitted by the Governments of Guyana, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand, Samoa and the Bahamas.

The responsibility now rested on the world to demonstrate its deep commitment to translating sustainable development into concrete results, according to the much-anticipated “Rio+20” draft resolution adopted unanimously by the General Assembly today.

In what was seen as a major breakthrough in negotiations at the ongoing United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, delegates today received their first comprehensive paper from the Conference President containing elements to be incorporated into a legally binding text, and came together to discuss it in plenary after many informal meetings that lasted into the night and throughout the weekend.

Concerned about violence against women and children, and the tragic plight of the latter in African conflict situations, the General Assembly adopted today a draft resolution on causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development on the continent.