Citing growing cooperation among all stakeholders concerned to eradicate colonialism across the globe, a senior United Nations political official this morning called for innovative, practical ways to address the issue of self-government, as the Special Committee on Decolonization opened its 2015 session.
In progress at UNHQ
General Assembly
The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization today elected by acclamation Nadia Kalb (Austria) of the Western European and Other States Group for third Vice-Chair of that body’s bureau.
Continuing its 2015 session today, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations tackled a plethora of peacekeeping concerns from the use of new technology and civilian protection mandates to pre-deployment planning and training to troop reimbursement rates.
Concluding the general debate for the session, speakers at the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization emphasized the urgency of revitalizing both the United Nations and the Special Committee itself through real political will and by fostering substantive deliberations on key agenda items.
The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization opened its 2015 session today with delegations debating questions related to economic sanctions, as well as institutional reform.
Over the past year, the United Nations’ 120,000 peacekeepers had carried out their work in “highly fragile” conditions — from asymmetric attacks in Mali to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa — laying bare the need for the Organization’s flagship enterprise to be adequately equipped for changing security realities, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations heard today, as it opened its 2015 session.
Parliaments, cities and local authorities could provide a “rich tapestry of opportunities” in the context of sustainable development, said ministers and other senior officials as the General Assembly concluded its High-level Thematic Debate on Means of Implementation for a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda today.
Despite the collective failure of Israelis, Palestinians and the international community to advance a political solution during the 2014 International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People aimed at catalysing global action, “all good forces must now be mobilized”, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson urged today in a message from the Secretary-General.
As the General Assembly opened its two-day high-level meeting aimed at finding ways to turn the new sustainable development vision into reality for millions worldwide, ministers and other senior officials crafted and shared approaches to “connect the dots” of financing the ambitious global agenda.
The General Assembly today approved the Secretary-General’s proposal to extend the terms of office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, until the end of this year, given the heightened refugee problem.