General Assembly

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) opened the second meeting of its sixty-sixth session with a discussion on the scale of assessments, several delegates raised a red flag over revising the complex methodology used to set the scale if the changes boosted the contributions of developing countries.

Following the historic submission on 23 September of the application of Palestine for admission to membership in the United Nations, it was time for the natural, historic and legal right of the Palestinians to join the community of nations to be granted, Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, told the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People today.

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) approved its agenda and work programme for the sixty-sixth General Assembly session at a brief organizational meeting today.

In a brief organizational meeting, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today approved its work programme for the current session, containing more than a dozen topics for consideration, including a review of peacekeeping operations, assistance in mine action, and the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples.

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) adopted its programme of work for the sixty-sixth session today, delegates underscored the challenge of an intensive agenda which aims, among other things, to agree on a proposed budget for the 2012-2013 biennium by 9 December.

“It has been an historic and unforgettable debate,” said the President of the General Assembly this evening as he closed the annual event, but it was now time to shift attention to the crucial next step, “turning talk into real impact”.

With some 64 million people living in absolute poverty and the gap between rich and poor nations as wide as ever, global development was at a critical juncture, making it imperative to assist least developed countries meet their most basic needs, whether by opening markets, closing protracted trade agreements or scaling up badly needed humanitarian assistance, senior Government officials said today as the General Assembly continued its general debate.

Consideration of the appropriate use of mediation and military intervention took the fore today as the General Assembly held the fourth day of the general debate of its sixty-sixth session, with the representatives of the transitional Libyan, Egyptian and Somali authorities taking the floor and international options for dealing with other turmoil in the region continuing to garner much debate.

Seizing the opportunity to deepen democratic gains triggered by the political transition in Guinea, the Peacebuilding Commission today approved a joint strategy to promote national reconciliation, reform the security sector, and provide job opportunities for women and young people, in a country where, President Alpha Condé said: “Everything is a priority.”

Declaring “this is the moment of truth, our people are waiting to hear the answer of the world”, Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, outlined an application for United Nations membership before a packed hall today as the General Assembly continued its general debate. As world leaders held their annual gathering at the United Nations, he urged them to “stand beside Palestine” as it pursued its historic goal.