General Assembly

Concluding its annual session today, the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on Strengthening the Role of the Organization adopted its 2019 draft report and forwarded its recommendations to the General Assembly.

The Special Committee on Decolonization opened its 2019 session today, electing Keisha Aniya McGuire (Grenada) as its chair and approving its tentative work programme and timetable.

There is no alternative to a peaceful settlement of the five-year conflict in Ukraine, with deployment of a United Nations-mandated peacekeeping operation there being an effective tool to bring peace, speakers told the General Assembly today.

The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization opened its 2019 session today with delegates debating questions related to sanctions, working methods and the role of both the Committee and regional organizations in the peaceful settlement of disputes.

Marked by sporadic deadly violence, the current situation in Israel and Palestine is untenable in terms of advancing the agreed-upon two-State solution, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the Palestinian Rights Committee today.

Speakers threw a spotlight on the need for clear mandates, adequate training and resources, and a culture of performance whenever and wherever the United Nations deploys Blue Helmets in conflict zones, as the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations concluded its annual general debate today.

Amid sweeping reforms occurring against a backdrop of increased security threats targeting Blue Helmets, partners must work more closely to ensure continued progress in making United Nations missions more safe, accountable, secure and effective, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations heard today as it opened its 2019 substantive session.

The General Assembly and Economic and Social Council must find synergies in their response to common issues — human rights, peace and security, and development — and weed out overlap, the organs’ presidents emphasized today in the first-ever joint discussion on alignment of work.

Convening its first 2019 meeting, the Peacebuilding Commission today elected Guillermo Fernández de Soto Valderrama (Colombia) as Chair of its thirteenth session, while also adopting a work plan aimed at expanding the Commission’s work and building synergies both within and beyond the United Nations system.

The General Assembly today elected Mustapha El Baaj (Morocco) to the roster of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals for a term until 30 June 2020, selecting him from a list of candidates submitted to it by the Security Council (document A/73/578).