Meetings Coverage

 Journalists, media experts, policymakers and scholars gathered for the opening of the thirtieth annual International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East today, held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

The Security Council today voted to extend by an additional year the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), emphasizing the need to reach a political solution based on compromise and the importance of aligning MINURSO’s strategic focus and UN resources toward that end.

The Security Council today extended the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) mandate for three months until 31 January 2025, with an automatic nine-month extension if a new Special Representative and Mission Head is appointed by that date.

It is important to call a genocide a genocide, UN experts told the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People today as they called on all States to examine their relationships and avoid being complicit in this crime being committed by Israel on the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Debating the continuing transfer of arms supplies to the warring parties in Ukraine, speakers in the Security Council meeting requested by the Russian Federation voiced concerns over the potential diversion and proliferation of weapons in this and other conflicts, with many calling the military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang “alarming”.

The Chair of the entity overseeing sanctions on Somalia briefed the Security Council today on developments related to Al-Shabaab’s threat to the country and the region, including an update on the partial lifting of an arms embargo on Mogadishu.

Israel's targeted destruction of healthcare infrastructure in Gaza threatening the long-term survival of Palestinian people as a group are war crimes and crime against humanity, while Palestinian armed groups also committed a war crime by attacking medical staff, facilities and ambulances in Israel, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today.

Amid growing tensions between Pristina and Belgrade, all parties must engage in “responsible leadership” to uphold human rights and freedoms and to reach constructive political dialogue, the United Nations top official in Kosovo said today, as representatives of Pristina and Belgrade spotlighted their engagements with the international community and sparred over who is responsible for the lack of political progress to normalize relations between them.

Voicing strong commitment to international cooperation, delegates in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today stressed the importance of sharing space technology for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, while commending the effectiveness and relevance of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Underscoring the important contribution of the International Law Commission to the progressive development and codification of international law, the Commission’s Chair says it also offers adequate answers to the new challenges faced by the international community, as the Sixth Committee (Legal) concluded today its debate on the third cluster of topics of the Commission’s annual report.