General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

As the Fifth Committee this morning considered the progress achieved during the first year of the construction phase of the Capital Master Plan, speakers stressed the highest priority of the smooth and cost-effective implementation of the project and its timely completion.

Underscoring the importance of dialogue and tolerance to enriching cultures and promoting understanding among faiths, the General Assembly capped its two-day debate on the culture of peace with the adoption of two consensus resolutions that sought to make peace a way of life for people around the world.

Acting without a vote, a meeting of States Parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights this afternoon elected MahjoubEl Haiba ( Morocco) to membership of the Human Rights Committee, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mohammed Ayat ( Morocco) from the Committee before the expiration of his term on 31 December 2012.

The past year had witnessed a deterioration of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as Israel intensified its military aggression, serious human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law, instead of pursuing peace, the observer for Palestine said today as the Fourth Committee began its annual discussion of Israeli practices affecting the human rights of Arabs in the occupied territories.

Deeply concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan eight years after the fall of the Taliban, the General Assembly today adopted by consensus a wide-ranging resolution that urgently appealed to the international community to keep working with the Afghan Government to funnel all possible and necessary humanitarian, reconstruction, development and other types of assistance to the struggling nation.

Twenty-two Member States pledged approximately $58 million today, during a pledging conference in support of United Nations development activities for 2010.

Conflicts over water -- the world’s most precious resource -- were at the heart of regional instability, but they could be a catalyst for cooperation and peace if managed properly, Aaron Wolfe, a specialist in water resource policy and conflict resolution, said this morning during a panel discussion on “Enhancing governance on water” held by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial).

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning made recommendations to the General Assembly regarding appointments to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), the Committee on Contributions, the Investments Committee, the Board of Auditors and the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC).

The Millennium Development Goals could only be achieved with the participation of all stakeholders, including Governments, the private sector and civil society, the representative of Sweden said today, as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) considered global partnerships.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning approved a text that would have the General Assembly reaffirm the role of the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC) as the main subsidiary organ for planning, programming and coordination.