General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

A weeks-long stalemate to elect one member of the International Court of Justice continued today as, after four votes — bringing the total number of voting rounds in the General Assembly to 11 — no candidate received the absolute majority of votes in both the Assembly and the Security Council that was required to clinch the final seat on the World Court.

The Third Committee today approved three resolutions that would have the General Assembly address human rights situations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Myanmar and Iran, even as delegations debated the legitimacy of country‑specific resolutions.

The General Assembly today adopted by consensus a wide-ranging resolution aimed at nudging Afghanistan further towards an economically and politically stable future, barely two years away from the Afghan Government’s target date for assuming the lead role for the war-torn country’s security.

Stressing the critical importance of women’s political participation in all contexts, including in times of peace, conflict and in all stages of political transition, the General Assembly would call upon all States to eliminate laws, regulations and practices that prevent or restrict women’s participation in the political process by a draft text approved by the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today without a vote.

The Palestinian Rights Committee this afternoon unanimously approved four draft resolutions concerning its own work, as well as that of the Division for Palestinian Rights and the Department of Public Information.

Strongly condemning acts of violence against diplomatic and consular missions and officials, the General Assembly today adopted, by recorded vote, a resolution deploring an alleged plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, and called on Iran to cooperate in bringing those responsible for the plot to justice.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today approved by consensus a draft resolution that would have the General Assembly adopt the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training.

The General Assembly would demand that Israel stop exploiting, damaging, depleting, and endangering the natural resources in occupied Arab lands, according to the terms of one of seven draft resolutions approved today by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial).

The General Assembly met today to fill vacancies on administrative and legal bodies of the United Nations, including by voting to elect members of the International Law Commission. Voting by way of secret ballot, the Assembly elected a total of 34 members of the International Law Commission — a body devoted to the promotion of the development and codification of international law — to serve five‑year terms of office beginning on 1 January 2012.

Political engagement would be a key component for building peace in the Central African Republic, the top United Nations official in that country said this morning as the Peacebuilding Commission configuration dealing with that country met to adopt the second review of the Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding in the Central African Republic.