General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

Angela Kane, Under-Secretary-General for Management, painted a “mixed picture” of the United Nations financial health in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today, saying that, while 2008 had seen progress, a negative trend had emerged in 2009, with a growing number of States not fully meeting their financial obligations, an evolving situation whose outcome would depend largely on actions taken by Governments.

At the conclusion of its three-day review of the challenges and opportunities associated with the decolonization process today, participants of the 2009 Caribbean regional seminar on decolonization exchanged views on the impact of the event and considered the way forward in promoting the goals of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2001-2010).

During the second day of its work in Saint Kitts and Nevis today, the Regional Seminar on the Implementation of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2001-2010) took up the challenges and opportunities in the process of decolonization in the Non-Self-Governing Territories outside the Caribbean, and considered the role of the United Nations system in providing them with development assistance.

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today took up the first three of more than a dozen peacekeeping budgets to be considered for the upcoming 2009/10 financial year, the Committee was told that projected delays in the deployment of troops to Sudan suggested the possibility of reductions to the amounts proposed by the Secretary-General for the multi-million dollar UNMIS and the billion-dollar UNAMID, although some States cautioned against underbudgeting.

“As we approach the end of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, I urge you to continue working together to find solutions for the completion of the decolonization process, with the aim of de-listing additional Territories,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message to the Caribbean Regional Seminar on the Implementation of the Decade, which opened in Saint Kitts and Nevis today.

With the United Nations total peacekeeping budget ballooning to $8.2 billion in 2009-2010, speakers in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today stressed the importance of austerity in a weakened global economic climate, and timely, full payment of assessed contributions so that peacekeeping missions could effectively carry out their mandates.

Now that the world was aware of the vast extent of human trafficking, coordinated global action was needed to end the scourge, Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, President of the General Assembly, said in the opening address of a special meeting on the issue today.

The General Assembly today elected 18 States to serve on the Human Rights Council for three-year terms starting next month, five of which will be sitting on the Geneva-based panel for the first time: Belgium, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Norway and the United States.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning began its second resumed session -- a four-week session largely dedicated to the funding of peacekeeping-related activities – with speakers urging the Secretariat to avoid a piecemeal approach to strengthening safety and security arrangements in the field, just as the Secretary-General is preparing to present a comprehensive report on security policies at the United Nations this year.

“Let us be united in our efforts to negotiate a powerful outcome document,” General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann said this morning as he appealed for Member States’ support and involvement in the few short weeks before the 1-3 June Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development.