General Assembly

With just a bit of time remaining on its calendar, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today concluded its consideration for the session of the effects of atomic radiation with the consensus approval of a draft resolution commending the United Nations Scientific Committee for the valuable contribution it had been making since its inception to widen knowledge and understanding of the levels, effects and risks of ionizing radiation.

The General Assembly would, for the third time in four years, renew its call for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty under the terms of a draft resolution approved today in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) by a recorded vote.

As the Sixth Committee (Legal), completing its work for the session today, approved seven draft resolutions and one draft decision without a vote, delegations strove to ensure consensus on a draft on measures to eliminate international terrorism. The draft would, among other provisions, have the Assembly strongly condemn all manifestations of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable.

The General Assembly today returned to the long-standing issue of Security Council reform as it opened its annual debate, looking to end the deadlock among Member States over how to reshape what many speakers saw as the United Nations most powerful — and increasingly outdated — organ.

The Palestinian Rights Committee this morning unanimously approved four draft resolutions relating to its own work, as well as that of the Division for Palestinian Rights and the Department of Public Information.

With the adoption of two draft resolutions today, the Fifth Committee gave its approval to the Board of Auditor’s scrutiny of the Organization’s 2009 financial statements and laid down a blueprint of guidelines meant to improve the staging of conferences.

The General Assembly would request the Secretary-General to work towards convening a high-level meeting on ensuring accessibility for, and inclusion of, persons with disabilities in all aspects of development efforts, under the terms of a draft resolution approved by consensus today by the Third Committee.

The General Assembly, through elections and appointments, today filled vacancies in the Committee for Programme and Coordination, the main subsidiary body of the Assembly and the Economic and Social Council for such work, as well as in the Committee on Conferences, which advises the Assembly on all matters pertaining to the organization of United Nations conferences.

At the inaugural high-level stakeholders meeting in New York, the Member States of the United Nations endorsed the importance of the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund and pledged further support. A total of 33 Member States spoke at the meeting on 4 November, commending the Fund as a fast, relevant and catalytic resource for supporting peacebuilding initiatives in countries emerging from conflict.

The international community needed to prevent a total collapse of the direct negotiations on the Palestinian track, and an end to the occupation and the return of refugees could serve as a “doorway” to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, delegates told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today.