In progress at UNHQ

Meetings Coverage

20 March 2014

WOM/1986

Many Women for ‘Cultural’ Reasons Sidelined From Systems Set Up to Help Them, Commission Told

Too many women and girls were forced to drop out of school, to toil in precarious jobs or to give up control over their own bodies, especially when harmful practices were carried out in unsafe and unhygienic conditions, sometimes in the name of culture, representatives of non-governmental groups told the Commission on the Status of Women today.

20 March 2014

SC/11333

Chair of Sanctions Committee on Iran Briefs Security Council ahead of Debate on Recent Developments

The Committee charged with monitoring sanctions on Iran had twice reached out to that country about findings by its Panel of Experts that launches of Shahab 1 and 3 missiles had contravened resolution 1929 (2010), while an arms shipment to Yemen was a probable breach of resolution 1747 (2007), its Chair told the Security Council today.

20 March 2014

SC/11332

Special Representative, Briefing Security Council, Stresses Need to Build Solid Basis for Reform, Effective Governance in Consolidating Liberia’s Peace

Seizing the present “window of opportunity” to build solid foundations for reform and effective governance in Liberia would be critical for consolidating the country’s hard-won peace and charting a future of inclusive development, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today.

20 March 2014

GA/AB/4101

Fifth Committee Seeks to Curb Capital Master Plan Cost Overruns while Keeping $2.2 Billion Headquarters Renovation Project on Track for 2015 Completion

Commending the progress made towards completing the massive, $2.2 billion renovation of the United Nations Headquarters begun eight years ago, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today sought new ways to rein in cost overruns, relocate the functions of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library and South Annex buildings, and keep the project on track for completion by 2015.

19 March 2014

SC/11328

United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission Deployed to Crimea amid Crisis between Russian Federation, Ukraine, Security Council Told

Following rapid developments that unfolded after Sunday’s referendum in which the people of Crimea voted to leave Ukraine and join the Russian Federation, a United Nations human rights monitoring team had been deployed to the region, with a pending invitation to visit the capital, Simferopol, the world body’s senior human rights official told the Security Council today.

19 March 2014

SC/11326

Deputy Secretary-General Urges Security Council to Use Peacebuilding Review in 2015 to Shape ‘Relevant, Catalytic and Effective’ Commission

Touting the successes of the United Nations peacebuilding machinery in post-conflict areas like Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste, the Deputy Secretary-General called this morning for strengthening and fully utilizing over the long-term the advisory role of one of the Organization’s key peacebuilding bodies.

19 March 2014

SC/11325

Security Council Unanimously Adopts Resolution 2146 (2014) Banning Illicit Crude Oil Exports from Libya, Authorizing Inspection of Suspect Ships on High Seas

The Security Council banned illicit crude oil exports from Libya today, authorizing States to inspect vessels on the high seas, using all measures commensurate to the specific circumstances.

18 March 2014

WOM/1985

Panellists in Women’s Commission Encourage Young Girls to Study Science, Technology, Change Perception of Pursuit as ‘Masculine’

The importance of inspiring young girls to not only study, but to take up careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics was the focus of two panel discussions in today’s meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women.

18 March 2014

SC/11323

United Nations Mission in South Sudan to Suspend Current Activities, Re-focus Priorities, Peacekeeping Chief Tells Security Council

Amid extreme violence and a national political crisis now entering its fourth month, the raison d’être of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan no longer applied, the head of peacekeeping operations told the Security Council today, saying it would suspend its current activities and re-focus on five priority areas.

18 March 2014

SC/11322

Recent ‘Retreat from Brink’ Was Stark Reminder of Unsustainable Status Quo in Middle East, Political Affairs Chief Tells Security Council

A fragile retreat last week from the “brink of another crisis” in the Gaza Strip and Israel was a stark reminder that the status quo in the Middle East was not sustainable, the United Nations political affairs official told the Security Council today.