Meetings Coverage

Expressing grave concern over the recent deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the General Assembly this afternoon signalled its approval for United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s intention to set up an international emergency response mission and called upon all Member States to fully support it.

Acting on the recommendations of its General Committee, the General Assembly this morning adopted the work programme and agenda for its sixty-ninth session, which contained 172 items, and endorsed the recommendation that its general debate would be held from 24 to 27 September and from 29 September to 1 October.

Determining that the “unprecedented extent” of the Ebola outbreak in Africa constituted a threat to international peace and security, the Security Council this afternoon called on Member States to respond urgently to the crisis and to refrain from isolating the affected countries.

Protracted deadlock in Afghanistan over the result of presidential elections deepened a crisis that had already taken a heavy political, security and economic toll, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in that country told the Security Council today.

Despite an unprecedented array of such weighty challenges as poverty, armed conflicts and climate change, the international community could achieve great things with dedication and single-mindedness of purpose and compromise, said the new President of the General Assembly this afternoon as he opened its sixty-ninth session.

As negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme continued, the 1737 Committee on Iran sanctions would continue its work of monitoring implementation, investigating alleged violations and responding to requests for guidance from Member States, its Chair told the Security Council this afternoon.

Describing a crisis situation in Libya as deteriorating towards chaos, the Secretary-General's new Special Representative, briefing the Security Council, pledged the perseverance of the United Nations in efforts to engage the parties in a political solution to end the factional armed violence.

Urging a stepped-up international response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa, the Security Council this morning decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia until 31 December 2014 with no changes in deployment.

The General Assembly’s sixty-eighth session came to a close today, with the outgoing President noting that there had been some great successes in the past session, despite the challenging circumstances.

As the Security Council took up the Secretary-General’s report on the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), speakers voiced an array of views on the proposed drawdown of that operation’s presence, particularly in light of the recent political impasse impeding legislative, national and local elections from being held by the mandated deadline.