General Assembly

30 October 2009

General AssemblyGA/EF/3261

Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York

Sixty-fourth General Assembly

Second Committee

26^th Meeting (PM)

In the wake of the economic crisis, a “new regime” of governance was under way in the global financial system, several experts told the Second Committee this afternoon during a panel discussion on “Revitalizing the international financial system”.

The First Committee today recommended that the General Assembly convene a conference on an arms trade treaty in 2012 to elaborate a legally binding instrument on the highest possible international standards for conventional arms transfers, recognizing that the absence of agreed standards for those transfers to address the problems relating to unregulated trade and their diversion to the illicit market contributed to armed conflict, the displacement of people, organized crime and terrorism.

Concluding a discussion of the proposed budget for 2010-2011, several developing countries on the Fifth Committee insisted that zero growth was not the solution for the Organization’s budget, and called for rectifying imbalances in funding budget priorities.

In its third annual debate on the work of the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly today recognized the newly formed body’s use of innovative mechanisms, special sessions and input from civil society to protect more people around the world from human rights violations.

Combined efforts by the United Nations, Governments, civil society and operational implementing partners to efficiently coordinate mine action-related activities gone far to end the suffering caused by landmines and explosive remnants of war, Assistant Secretary-General for the Rule of Law and Security Institutions of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today.

Deeply concerned about the pervasiveness of all forms of violence against women and girls and in recognition of the special vulnerability of young people in the current financial and economic crisis, the Third Committee today approved two draft resolutions on ending violence against women and on youth, before beginning consideration of the report of the Human Rights Council.

Bold, sweeping plans to reduce nuclear weapons arsenals, build confidence and boost transparency features in one of nine draft resolutions overwhelmingly approved this afternoon by the Disarmament Committee, as the present positive momentum in the field found remarkably few voices of dissent.

Presented with the Organization’s 2010-2011 budget that approached $5 billion today, numerous members of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) advocated strict financial discipline, close scrutiny of requirements, clear prioritization and redeployment of resources from lower-priority areas, while also insisting on the need to present a full picture of all requirements at the time of the introduction of the budget proposal.

States’ increased recourse to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice for the peaceful settlement of their disputes on growing and more varied issues pointed to heightened awareness among political leaders of the importance of the rule of law, the top officials of those global judicial bodies told the United Nations General Assembly today.