General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

Fine-tuning existing tools to stem the flow of the nefarious illicit arms trade topped a volley of suggestions that were the focus of debate today as the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States on combating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons continued.

“The global scourge from the illicit trade in small arms and ammunition continues to wreak havoc” and was highly destabilizing, impacting upon security and development in literally all regions of the world, Sergio Duarte, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, said today at the opening of the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States on combating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.

The General Assembly this morning elected Joseph Deiss, a former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland who led his country’s accession to the United Nations in 2002, as President of its sixty-fifth session.

Israel needed to change its aggressive stance towards the Palestinians or face the possibility of a catastrophic outcome in the future, Edward Peck, a former United States ambassador to Mauritania and Iraq, told the Palestinian Rights Committee today.

Following a day-long debate on implementing the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the follow-up 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, the General Assembly this afternoon adopted by consensus a draft decision to take note of the Secretary-General’s recommendations on the matter, use the report to inform a high-level plenary meeting on the Millennium Development Goals in September, and hold consultations by December to pave the way for a comprehensive HIV/AIDS review next year.

Acknowledging that the production of reliable, timely statistics and indicators of countries’ progress were indispensable for informed policy decisions and monitoring implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, the General Assembly this afternoon decided to designate 20 October as World Statistics Day.

ISTANBUL, Turkey, 27 May — With tensions high in Jerusalem, and public criticism growing worldwide over the lack of action to alleviate the desperate situation of Palestinians clinging to survival there, experts, students and representatives of non-governmental organizations attending a United Nations Forum called today for an end to Israel’s repressive policies in that city, urging fellow members of civil society to mobilize a coordinated, rights-based response.

Approaching the end of its four-week second resumed session, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today took up the proposed budget for the United Nations Office to the African Union, estimated to require $10.6 million, with speakers expressing regret at its late submission by the Secretary-General, leaving barely a day to consider possible gaps, as described by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions.

A United Nations meeting in support of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process stressed the importance of the two-year State-building plan put forward by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, aimed at developing institutions and strengthening the foundation for the future State of Palestine, and considered that the entire international community should be ready to recognize the new State once statehood had been declared by the Palestinian Authority at the appropriate time.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today took up proposals to give the Secretary-General authority to commit $380.4 million in the next six months to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and $246.6 million in the next six months to the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT), whose most recent budgets reached $732.4 million and $690.8 million respectively.