The Security Council today expressed its intention to continue addressing the protection of civilians, both in country-specific considerations and as a thematic agenda item, outraged that they accounted for the vast majority of casualties in conflict situations, suffering forced displacement and destruction of property, among other impacts.
Citing accelerating terrorist attacks, spikes in displacement and increasingly grave humanitarian challenges, the top United Nations official for the Sahel told the Security Council today that the international community must address the root causes of such threats to prevent further deterioration in the region.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered how it might revamp the operations of a crucial oversight body — the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) — which helps the 193 delegates manage the United Nations vast human resources and its finances.
The Security Council today reiterated its commitment to take “early and effective” action to prevent armed conflict and, to that end, employ all appropriate means at its disposal, in line with the United Nations Charter.
For the first time since 2009, delegates today requested a recorded vote on a draft resolution on the rights of the child, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) sent a package of 13 texts to the General Assembly on a range of issues, from preventing violence and women migrant workers to involving youth in paving a way to a sustainable future.
The General Assembly today adopted six resolutions on Palestinian and Middle East issues, as diverse as the Syrian Golan and the United Nations special information programme on the question of Palestine, all by recorded votes, exposing divisions in the world body.
Draft resolutions that would see the General Assembly address such topics as the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the impact of mercenaries and globalization on human rights were among 13 texts approved today by the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).
The world was just one major provocation in Jerusalem away from a descent into an unprecedented religious war, the General Assembly was told today as it took up the question of Palestine and heard the introduction of four draft resolutions on that matter.
In a meeting commemorating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, to be observed 29 November, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine called on the international community to stop selective and biased policies in applying justice, stressing that the lack of implementation of United Nations resolutions on Israel enabled that country to continue behaving as “a State above the law”.
Concerned over the intensity of modern-day conflicts — marked by mounting human, political and financial costs — United Nations Secretary‑General Ban Ki‑moon told the Security Council today that the Organization did not always respond with the speed and effectiveness required.
