General Assembly

Noting the similarities between Latin America’s politically repressive and violent past and the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, representatives of non-governmental organizations attending a United Nations Meeting in the Uruguayan capital today called on Latin American and Caribbean civil society to work together to help resolve the conflict in the Holy Land and bring justice to the Palestinian people.

With the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries a little more than a month away, the General Assembly convened today an interactive civil society hearing to explore ways grass-roots organizations could revive the global drumbeat on behalf of the world’s poorest countries and put pressure on Governments to honour their promises to deliver sustainable development for all.

The 18-member Human Rights Committee was briefed today by Yuji Iwasawa, expert from Japan, on the results of the Inter-Committee Meeting Working Group on Follow-up, held in Geneva from 12 to 14 January 2011.

The United Nations Latin American and Caribbean Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace closed today in Montevideo, Uruguay with an urgent call to the parties to resume serious negotiations to resolve permanent status issues within an agreed timeframe and to Israel to fully and immediately cease all settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

The Human Rights Committee today adopted the progress report of its Special Rapporteur for Follow-Up on Concluding Observations, which provides a country-by-country update on correspondence with States parties on implementation of the expert body’s recommendations on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

As the United Nations Latin American and Caribbean Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace continued this afternoon, speakers discussed Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as the international community’s willingness to accept the status quo, among other obstacles to advancing peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

As the United Nations Latin American and Caribbean Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace opened this morning in Montevideo, Uruguay, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the parties to bolster efforts to reach agreement on permanent status issues and to cease unilateral action that could jeopardize peace talks aimed at achieving Palestinian statehood.

Born from the commitment made by the international community at the 2005 World Summit to meet Africa’s special needs, the 10-year capacity-building programme for the African Union pioneered a model of true partnership between the United Nations and regional organizations, representatives of several African nations told the General Assembly today.

Italy and Europe shared a future with the Mediterranean, a region where political unrest had shaken many countries, and the European Union should be ready to do more for those struggling to build new foundations on the basis of freedom, respect for human rights, democratic progress and good governance, Giorgio Napolitano, President of Italy, stressed today in a wide-ranging address to the General Assembly.

The United Nations Disarmament Commission, meeting ahead of its 2011 substantive session, slated to run from 4 to 22 April, today elected Hamid Al-Bayati of Iraq as Chair and decided to take up for the third consecutive year a three-pronged agenda on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, the fourth disarmament decade, and confidence-building in the field of conventional weapons.