The General Assembly today elected 18 members of the Economic and Social Council to serve three-year terms beginning 1 January 2015. Those elected today were Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, India, Japan, Mauritania, Pakistan, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire next year would be a “critical” moment to assess progress in the security situation, as the West African nation continued to recover from its 2011 political crisis, the Chair of the United Nations body overseeing the sanctions regime told the Security Council today.
Escalating tensions in East Jerusalem must be diffused without delay, but they could not be separated from the wider unresolved conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the United Nations top political official told the Security Council this afternoon.
Deeply concerned about the growing dangers of nuclear and other mass destruction weapons caused by proliferation networks, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today approved a draft resolution urging adoption of a legally binding instrument to ensure non-nuclear-armed States against the use or threat of use of those weapons.
With thousands of unexploded ordnances still littering neighbourhoods and winter fast approaching, accelerated efforts were needed to swiftly deliver humanitarian relief and reconstruction materials to Gaza, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today during interactive dialogues with experts, as it continued its debate on human rights.
Commencing deliberations in the Sixth Committee (Legal) on the ‘second cluster’ of topics of the annual report, the Chair of the International Law Commission introduced the four topics, highlighting the conclusion of consideration of the “obligation to extradite or prosecute” (aut dedere aut judicare), and the start of its work on “protection of the atmosphere”.
Nothing represented the best of the United Nations globally than the sight of blue helmets safeguarding peace day in and out in difficult locations, the representative of Indonesia said this morning, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its comprehensive review of peacekeeping operations, during which speakers laid out their vision for a process that responded to new challenges without abandoning traditional tenets.
The United Nations was faced with a “unique opportunity” to retool itself to ensure it was fit to play a key role in fulfilment of the post-2015 development agenda, the representative of the United States told delegates in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.
The Security Council today urged States, other parties to conflicts and the United Nations system to step up measures to protect and empower displaced women and girls and those facing threats of violent extremism, ahead of a day-long debate on women, peace and security.
Civil society spaces were shrinking around the world as ordinary people’s lives were being changed without their input and against their will, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today as it continued its consideration of human rights, with presentations by six experts who had investigated problems in specific countries, and two reporting on global issues.
