General Assembly

Tuvako Nathaniel Manongi, Permanent Representative of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations, was elected Chair of the Sixth Committee (Legal) on 18 June 2014.

František Ružička, Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the United Nations, was elected Chair of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) on 18 June 2014.

As the world celebrated the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the situation on the ground was deteriorating, with the summer’s conflict in Gaza having caused the worst impact on civilians of all that had preceded it, and Israel continuing to expand settlements, the Palestinian Rights Committee stressed.

Durga Prasad Bhattarai, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations, was elected Chair of the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization Committee) on 18 June 2014.

Sofia Mesquita Borges, Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the United Nations, was elected Chair of the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee) on 18 June 2014.

Sebastiano Cardi, Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations, was elected Chair of the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) on 18 June 2014.

Courtenay Rattray, Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations, was elected Chair of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) on 18 June.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today adopted the work programme for its sixty-ninth session and began its examination of the Secretary-General’s budget proposal for the United Nations operation to fight the Ebola outbreak, the Organization’s first-ever emergency health mission.

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), in a brief organizational meeting today, approved its work programme for the new session, which contains more than a dozen topics for consideration, including questions relating to peacekeeping, information, outer space, the effects of atomic radiation and the granting of independence to Non-Self-Governing Territories and peoples.

Leaders had taken to the world stage since 24 September to spotlight hopes and gains, as well as profound concerns, at the start of a session that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said could be the “most consequential” in a generation.