Meetings Coverage

Vanuatu and Equatorial Guinea were now poised to become middle-income countries, the General Assembly heard today as it unanimously adopted a draft resolution on graduation from the least developed category.

The General Assembly would stress the need to significantly reduce post-harvest and other food losses and waste throughout the food supply chain through increased promotion of appropriate harvesting practices, agro-food processing and appropriate facilities for the storage and packaging of food, according to one of seven draft resolutions that the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) approved today.

Appealing to the international community to confront a $65 million cash shortfall in its 2014 budget, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East today heard representatives of 17 countries pledge to provide voluntary contributions.

States on the front lines were in a unique position to assess the nature of the terrorism threat in their regions and keep the international community informed, the Security Council heard this morning in a review of the work of its anti-terrorism committees.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) concluded its work today, having approved 72 draft resolutions that are expected to be taken up by the General Assembly plenary next month.

The General Assembly would stress the need to increase investment in agriculture and rural development, including by giving technical and financial aid to least developed and net food-importing developing countries, with a view to increasing their agricultural productivity and infrastructure, according to one of two draft resolutions the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) approved by consensus today.

Progress in restoring constitutional order in Guinea-Bissau following the 2012 coup d’état remained “frustratingly slow” amid electoral delays and a generalized climate of fear, the United Nations senior official in the West African country told the Security Council today, stressing that the onus was now on the transitional Government to ensure the timely holding of presidential and legislative elections next year.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved 18 draft resolutions today, including one on “The right to privacy in the digital age”.

Sending a strong message of support for the Middle East peace process, albeit with the traditionally divergent views on how to achieve its aims, the General Assembly today adopted six draft resolutions on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East overall.