Differing opinions on social and cultural issues, along with wider agreement on disadvantaged peoples’ need for humanitarian assistance, animated the General Assembly today, as it adopted 50 resolutions and 8 decisions recommended by its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).
Adopting two texts without a vote this morning, the General Assembly committed to implementing the Secretary-General’s newly presented approach to cholera in Haiti, with speakers welcoming the “long-anticipated” move and its focus on the provision of material assistance to the victims of the nearly six-year-long outbreak.
The following statement was issued today on behalf of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples on the fifty-sixth anniversary of the Declaration:
Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today examined the 2016-2017 programme budget for special political missions, with many expressing high hopes for the new mission in Colombia charged with implementing the November peace accord, and others requesting more clarity on support provided by the Office of Special Adviser for Conflict Prevention, including in Burundi.
Adopting a draft resolution on global health and foreign policy that focused on the role of health employment in driving economic growth and helping Member States move toward sustainable development, the General Assembly also held a debate on the culture of peace and elected members to the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission.
The 13-year-old United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) had proven a true “success story” in the history of United Nations peacekeeping operations, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) said today, as they considered a final budget request to withdraw Mission personnel and formally end its presence in the country by June 2017.
Concluding its work for the main part of the General Assembly’s seventy-first session today, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) voted against a proposed amendment to a text by recorded vote, unanimously approving that draft as a whole, for a total of six draft resolutions on topics ranging from debt sustainability and development to food security and beyond.
Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today gave mixed reviews of the Secretary-General’s plans to consolidate the United Nations fragmented administrative services, which if properly implemented, would improve its ability to serve global duty stations and field offices through a leaner, more effective and cost-efficient structure.
The role of the Sixth Committee (Legal) was crucial to strengthening international cooperation to confront threats to peace and security, the General Assembly affirmed today, as it adopted 25 resolutions and 4 decisions of that Committee without a vote.
The General Assembly, taking up a range of items this afternoon, considered the latest report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — the main United Nations organ devoted to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy — while also adopting a text related to the work of the Credentials Committee and electing seven members to the Committee for Programme and Coordination.
