To end the worsening suffering in South Sudan, the international community must find a way to help its people bring about urgently needed peace, eliminate drivers of conflict and resume development, the Special Representative for the country told the Security Council this afternoon.
In the face of “horrendous crimes” which continued to be perpetrated against civilians by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant/Sham (ISIL/ISIS), efforts to free Iraq from that common enemy must be rooted in bolstered unity and the acceleration of national reconciliation, top United Nations officials told the Security Council this morning.
Concerned over outstanding balances owed to the United Nations and overdue payments to Member States for peacekeeping operations, delegates said the Organization had a “long way to go” before receiving a “clean bill of financial health”, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) heard today.
A global arrangement on forests, bolstered by credible financing and means for monitoring and implementation, would help Governments and local communities tackle the illegal timber trade and economic activities that were eroding one of the world’s most valuable resources, ministers in the Forum on Forests said today, as they debated how to revise the normative framework guiding such decisions.
Underscoring the human suffering caused by the widespread availability of small arms and light weapons in conflict zones at an all-day open debate in the Security Council today, speakers called for the urgent management of such deadly materiel through national action, implementation of treaties and strengthened international cooperation.
As Haiti approached presidential and municipal elections, adequate international support was needed to avoid a security vacuum and a loss of gains made towards democracy and development, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) heard today as it weighed a substantial cut to the 2015/16 budget of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in that country.
The international community must be more proactive in exploring solutions to tangibly help Libya restore stability and strengthen accountability for violations of international law, said the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court as she addressed the Security Council this afternoon.
With renewed momentum for European integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina and new Government components in place, national leaders should work together to end the “stagnation” of progress in time for the upcoming twentieth anniversary of the accords that ended fighting there, the High Representative for the country told the Security Council this morning.
Addressing the growing crisis of migrant trafficking — exemplified by the recent tragedies in the Mediterranean Sea — was a shared international responsibility that required a complex combination of efforts, the Security Council heard today, as speakers stressed the need for concerted action in source, transit and destination countries.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today began its consideration of the additional $80 million required for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) for the year ending 30 June 2015.
