Voicing solidarity and support to the Palestinian people, speakers today reiterated their calls for intensified efforts towards a just and lasting solution, as the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People held a high-level special meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Nakba.
The United Nations Forum on Forests concluded its eighteenth session today, approving a draft decision that its nineteenth session will be held at United Nations Headquarters from 6 to 10 May 2024 along with the draft provisional agenda for that session, sending both texts to the Economic and Social Council for formal adoption following week-long discussions on topics ranging from the importance of sustainable forest management to the potential offered by wood-based bioenergy.
For the United Nations to deliver on its mandate, Member States must pay on time, in full and without conditions, speakers stressed today, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative Budgetary) addressed the Organization’s financial situation before considering the Secretary-General’s request to allocate $391.2 million to the support account and $1.16 billion and $1.28 billion for two peacekeeping missions in Africa for the 2023/24 fiscal year.
As the Forum on Forests addressed its preparations for the midterm review on the effectiveness of the international arrangement on forests and the status of its Trust Fund, as well as emerging issues facing forest management, speakers today underlined the need to improve transparency, increase funding and build on the forests-energy-livelihoods nexus.
Thanks to dynamic investigations combined with a targeted approach, over the past six months the International Criminal Court has made significant progress in prosecuting alleged crimes against humanity committed in Libya, its chief prosecutor told the Security Council today.
Building countries’ capacities to increase data collection and develop financing that supports sustainable forest management is much needed, speakers stressed, as the United Nations Forum on Forests today considered means of implementation and the monitoring, assessment and reporting of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2017-2030.
The international community must not allow divisive political tactics to endanger social cohesion in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the High Representative for that country told the Security Council today, amidst objections from some delegates about his credibility.
Sharing national best practices on the protection of forests, speakers today deliberated ways of enhancing sustainable forest management in achieving global forest goals and explored their linkages with other major international frameworks and agreements, as the United Nations Forum on Forests continued its session.
Warning that the recent outbreak of violence in Sudan could jeopardize its bilateral relations with South Sudan, speakers urged both countries to continue their positive engagement in working to resolve border security and development issues and reach an agreement on the final status of Abyei, during a Security Council briefing today on the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the Secretary-General’s request to allot nearly $294 million, $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion for three United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa as the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) recommended respective reductions of nearly $1.7 million, $5.1 million and $3 million.
