Approving a draft resolution on the peaceful uses of outer space today, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) also concluded its general debate on the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as delegations voiced their concerns about the plight of the refugees and the Agency’s financial sustainability.
The “historic” and popular uprising led by Palestinian youth now into its second month had brought the Middle East question back to the forefront of the international conversation, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine told the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People today as it approved four draft texts to be considered by the General Assembly.
Following the Sixth Committee’s (Legal) concluding deliberations on the second cluster of topics from the annual report of the International Law Commission, the Chairman of that body introduced topics from the third and final cluster, before delegates embarked on their debate of those matters.
With conflicts expanding in the Middle East, thrusting one community after another into extreme insecurity, Palestine refugees remained among the most marginalized due to Israel’s ongoing occupation and the absence of sustainable, predictable funding, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it took up the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The Security Council this afternoon was briefed on the situation in Burundi by high-level officials of the United Nations and the African Union, as the violence there, according to speakers, threatened to spiral out of control with risks that the country could slide back into an “all too familiar chaos”.
In support of United Nations development activities, primarily covering 2015, 16 countries pledged approximately $77 million today at a Headquarters event. The amount represented a dramatic decline in comparison to pledges in 2014 of $560 million.
The Security Council today urged the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and all relevant parties to ensure an environment conducive to the holding of free, fair, credible, inclusive, transparent, peaceful and timely presidential and legislative elections by November 2016.
In a ministerial meeting today, the Security Council approved changes to the United Nations mission in Somalia, consolidating efforts around the strategic objectives established for the country to better respond to a dramatic expansion of requested support.
The General Assembly today elected 23 members to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and one member to the Economic and Social Council, while appointing members of the Committee on Conferences and the Joint Inspection Unit.
Against the backdrop of an increasingly “grim” and “complex” global security landscape, special political missions — with their rapid, nimble and tailored approaches — were a key part of the United Nations peace operations toolbox, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it took up the matter in a half-day debate.
