General Assembly

Taking up the wide-ranging reports of the Office of International Oversight Services (OIOS) and the Independent Audit Advisory Committee, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this afternoon strongly supported the recent efforts and progress of those two crucial oversight bodies in strengthening the accountability and transparency of United Nations activities.

As democratic movements drove political change in North Africa and the Middle East, and as new economic powers transformed the geopolitical landscape, the United Nations, to maintain its respected stature, must define effective, multifaceted strategies suited for a new era, General Assembly delegates said today as they considered the Secretary-General’s report on the Organizations’ work.

Decolonization was one of the most defining issues of the latter part of the twentieth century, and the untiring efforts of United Nations had ensured that nearly all of the world’s population no longer lived under colonial rule, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) was told as it began its annual general debate on that issue.

Rising social inequalities stemming from the still-unfolding global economic downturn were a “time bomb” that, if left unaddressed, would tear apart the moral fabric of society and undermine prospects for social development, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Sha Zukang, told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as it opened its annual session with a debate on social development.

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) today considered measures to eliminate international terrorism, delegates commemorated the tenth anniversary of the events of 11 September 2001, and urged a conclusion to the draft articles of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism that would clearly define terrorism and address its root causes.

Governments must consider new, more equitable development models to ensure that their economies reaped the benefits of a globalized world amid heightened food insecurity, increased pressure on natural resources and a widening gap between rich and poor that was severely hampering prospects for economic recovery, Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, stressed today as he opened the general debate of the Second Committee (Economic and Financial).

In terms of the work of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), it is clear that “we should not close up shop and wait for the dawning of world peace as a precondition for disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control to succeed”, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Sergio Duarte, told Member States, opening the Committee’s general debate for the session.

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.