Meetings Coverage

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today approved a draft resolution calling for the prompt demolition of a temporary conference building on the United Nations main campus in New York.

The General Assembly today reaffirmed its common desire and commitment to the vision of the World Summit on the Information Society to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society, as the 193-member body concluded its two-day high-level meeting reviewing the summit outcomes. 

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until 31 July 2016, deciding to increase force levels up to 13,000 troops and 2,001 police personnel amid concerns among some members over the potential use of unarmed unmanned aerial vehicles, sanctions and technical support for a hybrid court created to prosecute the perpetrators of mass-atrocity crimes.

The Security Council today extended until 15 May 2016 the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping operation for the disputed Abyei area bordering Sudan and South Sudan.

Bridging the vast digital divide that existed between countries and genders, as well as the importance of cybersecurity in today’s increasingly dangerous world were among the themes highlighted today as the General Assembly held its 10-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society.

The Panel of Experts assisting the Security Council’s so-called 1737 Iran Sanctions Committee found that the country’s attempted procurement of Grade 5 titanium alloy bars had been in violation of resolution 1737 (2006) and subsequent texts, the subsidiary body’s Chair told the 15-member organ today.

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the Security Council today that she wished she could declare that victims of the protracted conflict in Darfur would soon see justice at last, and that those alleged to be responsible for Rome Statute crimes in that western region of Sudan would soon be held accountable before the Court.

JAKARTA, 15 December — As the two-day International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem concluded this morning, experts in a plenary session on historical and contemporary models of coexistence provided a glimpse of the city’s past and present while offering suggestions for the future.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today approved a draft resolution calling for action to address the weaknesses in the United Nations identified by the Organization’s main external auditing body.  The Committee also scrutinized the Secretary-General’s request for additional resources in the coming biennium to implement the post-2015 development goals.

Affirming the role of the Sixth Committee (Legal) in promoting international law and justice and holding to that body’s tradition of approving texts without a vote, the General Assembly today unanimously adopted 11 resolutions and one decision on the programme of work, as recommended in 17 reports of the Committee.