Most people, including those of African descent, would prefer not to remember slavery due to feelings of pain or guilt, yet it was vitally important to underscore the many ways in which enslaved Africans and their descendants had ultimately shaped the modern world, the General Assembly heard today as it marked the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Women must be placed at the centre of efforts to prevent or resolve conflict in Africa, speakers said today as the Security Council took up the “women, peace and security agenda”, considering the role of women in creating more peaceful and equitable societies on the continent.
Amid the current bloody wave of escalating violence, including stabbings and shootings in Israel and the occupied West Bank, the international community must move beyond mere condemnations and send a clear message to both sides that a two-State solution was the best road to peace, the Secretary-General’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today.
Taking action without a vote as it concluded the first part of its resumed seventieth session this afternoon, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) approved five texts relating to Staff Regulations and Rules, special subjects in the 2016-2017 biennium programme budget, the accountability system, the Joint Inspection Unit, and questions deferred for future consideration.
Determining that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their delivery means remained a threat to international peace and security, the Security Council decided today to extend the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the Sanctions Committee on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea until 24 April 2017.
The Security Council decided today to extend the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) until 31 March 2017.
The Commission on the Status of Women, closing its sixtieth session today, approved a robust set of Agreed Conclusions that the top United Nations gender official said would pave the way for a gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Amid rising political tensions associated with the electoral process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the increasing number of security incidents and human rights violations, it was crucial to send a strong message about the need for political consensus on a sustainable way forward, the Security Council heard today during its periodic briefing on the situation in that country.
Civil society groups today urged Governments to redouble their efforts towards gender equality and women’s empowerment in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, as the sixtieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women completed its general discussion.
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the World Water Day event “Better Water, Better Jobs”, in New York today:
