As serious fighting continued among warring armed groups in Mali, resulting in heavy casualties among both civilians and peacekeepers alike, the strife-torn nation’s ongoing peace talks had reached a crucial stage and must move forward, the head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council this afternoon.
The Security Council today failed to adopt a draft resolution calling for Israel, within three years, to withdraw from Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 and, within one year, for the parties to reach a negotiated solution to the conflict.
After days of protracted negotiations, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today wrapped up the main part of its sixty-ninth session that aimed to address, among other things, a range of contentious human resource issues and concerns about the surging cost of the Organization’s special political missions.
Taking up the reports of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this evening, the 193-member General Assembly adopted a wide range of texts, including 16 resolutions and two draft decisions that, among other things, revised upwards the 2014-2015 biennium budget, and addressed the United Nations common system, human resources management and financing for peacekeeping operations.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this afternoon decided to suspend its final meeting — during which it would be expected to take action on all outstanding matters and conclude the main part of its sixty-ninth session — until further notice.
The General Assembly, in a late-day meeting, decided, in line with a proposal put forth by the body’s Vice-President, to extend the work of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) until Wednesday, 31 December.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) heard the introduction this afternoon of draft texts on the terms governing entitlements for United Nations employees, as well as the annual budget recosting exercise and the Organization’s programme priorities for the 2016-2017 period.
The General Assembly today, nearing completion of its work for the main part of the session, adopted three draft texts on international tribunals and on bolstering emergency humanitarian response.
The Security Council had rallied to consensus on several important issues in December, the Permanent Representative of Chad and President of that body said in a monthly wrap-up meeting, as members stressed the need to press ahead on issues and areas where they had failed to produce results.
Concerted action by the international community was needed following a Human Rights Council report on appalling, systematic abuses in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, high United Nations officials told the Security Council today, following a procedural vote of 11 in favour to 2 against (China, Russian Federation), with 2 abstentions (Chad, Nigeria) that put the situation on the body’s agenda.
