General Assembly

A groundbreaking resolution just adopted by the General Assembly on female genital mutilation would equip all States to combat those harmful practices, the representative of Burkina Faso, Der Kogda, announced at a Headquarters press conference today.

A Special Meeting of the States Parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea today elected Szymon Uścinowicz of Poland to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, filling the 21-member body’s last seat allotted to the Group of Eastern European States.

In a single round of voting today, the Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child elected nine members to the 18-member committee charged with monitoring implementation of the treaty and its two Optional Protocols.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this afternoon examined revised budgetary estimates for the 2012-2013 cycle related to a diverse array of issues, including sustainable development, decisions of the Human Rights Council, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the arms trade treaty, the contingency fund and financing of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste.

The General Assembly today, acting on the recommendation of its Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), drew divided support among its resolutions and decisions on decolonization and issues concerning Israeli practices and the United Nations Agency tasked with mitigating the plight of the region’s refugees, but attracted broad backing for drafts on the effects of atomic radiation, peacekeeping, outer space, information and University for Peace.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today began its consideration of the Secretariat’s review of the first year of the 2012-2013 budget cycle, an exercise that this year re-evaluated budget requirements for the current two year-biennium upwards by $263.3 million, or 5.1 per cent, to $5.41 billion.

Tackling an array of topics that spanned from augmenting civilian capacity in the aftermath of conflict to infusing a culture of peace into multilateral relations, the General Assembly today adopted seven consensus resolutions, including on the need for “voices of moderation” to promote tolerance and understanding, and combat extremism.

Concluding its session today, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) approved four draft resolutions, including one by which the General Assembly would stress the primary responsibility of Governments for their countries’ development and for coordinating all external assistance, including that provided by multilateral organizations, on the basis of national strategies and priorities.

In scrutinizing the Secretary-General’s proposed budget for 33 special political missions for 2013, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today expressed concern over the unabated growth in financing those missions and the present arrangements for doing so.

Underscoring the substantive work of the Sixth Committee (Legal) this year on the rule of law, the General Assembly stressed, through the consensus adoption of 17 resolutions, that support from the United Nations and compliance by States were critical to the principle’s successful integration into all components of society.