General Assembly

BRUSSELS, 29 June — As it closed in Brussels this afternoon, the United Nations International Meeting in Support of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process issued a call to the European Union and its Member States to support recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations during the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly.

Recalling that Member States committed to assisting the world’s 48 least developed countries with an overarching goal of enabling half of them to meet the criteria for graduation from that status by 2020, the General Assembly today adopted a consensus resolution reiterating that graduation not disrupt development progress already achieved.

BRUSSELS, 28 June — The viability of the two-State solution, the importance of the Arab Peace Initiative and the effectiveness of the Quartet’s Road Map in bringing about a just and lasting settlement of the Middle East conflict — along with Europe’s role in reaching that goal — were examined this afternoon as the United Nations International Meeting in Support of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process held its first plenary session in Brussels.

BRUSSELS, 28 June — Given the frozen state of Middle East peace negotiations at the present critical time, the international community must do its part to bring the parties back to the table, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message to the United Nations International Meeting in Support of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process, which opened this morning in Brussels.

With gaps in the world’s multilateral frameworks hindering the international community’s ability to comprehensively and equitably meet the most critical global challenges, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for improving the multilateral system’s coherence and efficiency today as the General Assembly convened a day-long informal thematic debate on the United Nations in global governance.

The Special Committee on Decolonization concluded its 2011 substantive session today with the passage of a draft resolution on the Question of Tokelau, which would have the General Assembly acknowledge the Territory’s decision that consideration of any future act of self-determination would be deferred and that Tokelau and New Zealand would renew efforts to ensuring that essential services and infrastructure in the Pacific Territory’s three atolls was enhanced.

BRUSSELS, 23 June (Division for Palestinian Rights) — The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations International Meeting in Support of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process, on 28 and 29 June 2011 in Brussels, Belgium. The theme of the Meeting is “The role of Europe in advancing Palestinian statehood and achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians”.

Noting the importance of positive measures being pursued in New Caledonia by the French authorities to promote political, economic and social development, the Special Committee on Decolonization today invited all parties to continue advocating a framework for an act of self-determination in which all options were open and which would safeguard the rights of all sectors of the Territory’s population, in line with the 1998 Nouméa Accord.

The General Assembly this afternoon elected Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations, as President of its sixty-sixth session.

Amid calls for more unified development and conflict-prevention efforts, the General Assembly today adopted two resolutions focusing, respectively, on support for the African Union’s flagship development programme, and on the “untapped potential” of mediation in the peaceful settlement of disputes.