General Assembly

In the wake of the General Assembly’s renewed commitment to galvanizing political momentum towards implementation of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, it was crucial for international partners to cooperate on redressing the ills of the world’s most strife-ridden continent, said delegates gathered today for their annual joint debate on development in Africa.

In a press conference at Headquarters today, Mazlan Othman, Director of the Office for Outer Space Affairs and Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, gave an overview of work being done on the peaceful uses of outer space through the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization Committee).

Global responses to human emergencies and advances in national space sectors were among the hard proof of the world’s commitment to the notion of developing outer space for the good of humankind, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today during its general debate on international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.

To “truly universalize child rights,” the world community must reach the neediest children in their early years, with critical nutrition, nurturing, education and child protection, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today.

When the Sixth Committee began debate today on the subject of the scope and application of universal jurisdiction (of law), delegates reviewed ways of furthering discussion on complex and controversial aspects of the question.

Concerned that the recent increase in funding for United Nations development activities could taper off or even reverse course this year because of the global economic crisis, several delegates in the Second Committee called today for a steady incoming flow of cash, as well as greater balance between the funding of core and non-core activities.

The “tyranny of consensus” was hampering the Conference on Disarmament, said that body’s Secretary-General today in the First Committee, putting the question to Member States: “Do you want disarmament? Or do you want consensus? Or do you want a little disarmament and a little consensus? We proposed a lot of ideas for you, but finally, it is up to you, the Member States, to make decisions.”

Provision of a range of financial services to the poor - from loans and savings to payments and transfer services – played a significant role in the fight against poverty, and more efforts were needed to ensure that coverage reached the most marginalized, who often lived farthest from banks and markets, General Assembly delegates said today as they measured progress in the follow-up to the 2005 International Year of Microfinance.

Space-based technologies were increasingly important in a world where no region was spared the growing scope and threat of emergency situations and disasters, the Fourth Committee was told today, as it began its consideration of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.

Delegations in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) lined up today to welcome the establishment of UN Women and the appointment of Michelle Bachelet as its Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General, while underlining the many challenges that remain on the road to women’s empowerment, gender equality and the struggle against gender-based violence throughout the world.