General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

The nuclear Powers had no moral authority to call for strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime when they themselves were responsible for undermining it, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today upon the conclusion of its general debate.

The United Nations top management official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today that the Organization’s financial indicators for 2011 had improved in some areas even as a single Member State was responsible for 87.4 per cent of the $867 million outstanding in the regular budget.

As General Assembly delegates today assessed the first implementation decade of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) — the African-owned strategy adopted in 2001 to drive the continent’s political and socio-economic transformation — they lauded achievements in peace, security and good governance, and looked forward to ownership beyond aid and inclusive sustainable growth over the next 10 years.

Forwarding five consensus draft texts to the General Assembly, including on the questions of Western Sahara, Gibraltar, New Caledonia and Tokelau, the Fourth Committee reaffirmed the inalienable right of all people to self-determination and independence, as it concluded today its general debate on decolonization matters.

Following a remarkable year in the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment that was marked by the establishment of UN-Women and the launch of the Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, it was now time to turn the momentum generated in 2010 into clear, tangible gains for women and girls everywhere, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today.

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) considered the report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), delegates expressed strong concerns on impending budget cuts and the restructuring of plenary meeting locations being proposed for the Commission. In particular, it was said that if meetings were held only in Vienna instead of alternating with New York, it might be difficult for some poorer countries to afford to send representatives.

Although cautious optimism had prevailed at the time of drafting the Secretary-General’s report on external debt sustainability, it had since dissipated in the face of the global economic deterioration, a senior official of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today, as it began its consideration of macroeconomic policy questions.

A paradigm shift in the international conversation on peace and development was needed to respond to the emerging global challenges of the twenty-first century, Bangladesh’s representative told the Disarmament Committee, suggesting that it might be wise to “take a step back and seriously question our approach, while we allow the mindless arms race around us to flourish unencumbered”.

Jurisdictional fissures that allowed United Nations staff on mission to go unprosecuted for committing criminal acts threatened the reputation of the United Nations, some delegates told the Sixth Committee (Legal) today, as it addressed the issue of holding United Nations staff on mission accountable for criminal offences.

The multipolar world of the twenty‑first century called for “a new thinking on security featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination”, China’s representative told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), even amid forceful calls by the non‑nuclear‑armed countries to bind and universalize the pledges that nuclear weapons would never be used against them.