The Security Council today encouraged the Peacebuilding Commission to present it with concise and targeted recommendations on efforts to sustain peace in specific situations, ahead of reviews of mandates of United Nations operations.
The General Assembly today commemorated anniversaries of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, with high-level plenary meetings that included a dedicated award ceremony honouring the 2018 recipients of the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights.
The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process expressed deep concern today over the weakening of the international consensus around a two-State resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, as he briefed the Security Council on continuing violence, provocation and settlement activity on the ground.
The General Assembly endorsed the Global Compact on Refugees today — an historic agreement aiming to forge a stronger and fairer response to refugee movements — as it adopted 53 resolutions and 6 decisions recommended by its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).
Serbia and Kosovo must avoid steps that could further exacerbate tensions and set back dialogue towards normalizing relations, the head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council today.
Against the backdrop of increasingly complex and evolving threats to global peace and security, divisions within the Security Council – including between its five permanent and 10 elected members – continue to hamstring the work of the committees and working groups tasked with tackling them, said the Chairs of the 15-member organ’s subsidiary bodies in their annual briefing.
The General Assembly today adopted a resolution urging the Russian Federation to withdraw its military forces from Crimea and end its temporary occupation of Ukraine’s territory without delay, but rejected an amendment that would have called on both sides to investigate an incident in November involving the seizure of three Ukrainian vessels and crew.
Despite undeniable threats to their safety, the Afghan people came out to vote for a better future for their country in the recent parliamentary elections, the top-ranking United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) took up a raft of reports from the Secretary-General today on topics as varied as the revised budget for the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) to the ongoing deployment of flexible workspace at Headquarters, in addition to the programme budget implications of several draft resolutions going before the General Assembly.
The General Assembly today adopted four resolutions on coordinating humanitarian and disaster relief aid, as Member States echoed concerns that global crises and attacks on humanitarian personnel continue to increase as millions of people are forcibly displaced worldwide.
