General Assembly

With Afghanistan facing a critical juncture in its modern history — the expected pullout of international security forces by 2014 — the international community must stand beside the war-torn central Asian nation and help to usher in a decade “marked less by aid and more by trade”, said General Assembly delegates today as they adopted a consensus resolution affirming their continued support for the country’s peace, reconciliation and development processes.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today approved its first ever draft resolution aimed at ending the practice of female genital mutilation, concluding a determined effort by African States and praised as historic by delegations.

Well aware of the financial constraints faced by the United Nations and its Member States, the Chairman of the International Civil Service Commission today handed the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) a series of recommendations which, if approved, would impact the salary and working conditions of the Organization’s employees around the globe.

The General Assembly would demand that Israel stop exploiting, damaging, depleting and endangering the natural resources in occupied Arab lands, by the terms of one of four draft resolutions approved today by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial).

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered a wide range of human resource management issues, delegates expressed concern over such issues as the financial ramifications of the Secretary-General’s proposed mobility and career development initiative, the unequal geographical representation among the workforce, particularly in senior management posts, and the lengthy time to fill vacancies.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today approved a draft resolution that would have the General Assembly strongly condemn all extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and demand States ensure that such practices were brought to an end.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today approved a draft resolution that would have the General Assembly express its deep concern about the continued application of the death penalty and call on States to establish a moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the practice.

The Palestinian Rights Committee today approved by consensus four draft resolutions relating to the question of Palestine, as it considered the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly with regard to the current hostilities in the Gaza Strip.

Enhanced alliances between the United Nations and regional and treaty bodies were needed to address current and emerging global challenges, as well as to achieve several longstanding — and as yet unmet — international goals, said delegates today as the General Assembly adopted consensus texts reaffirming cooperation with a number of such organizations.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today approved a draft resolution that would have the General Assembly hold a high-level meeting in 2013 to assess progress in the global community’s fight against the grave challenge of human trafficking.