Meetings Coverage

Despite polarizing rhetoric and institutional inertia marring the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today that it was critical to build on the post-war gains and ensure peace, stability and prosperity in the country through greater integration with Europe.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to 31 October 2014, requesting the African Union to increase the troop strength of that regional peacekeeping body from 17,731 to a maximum of 22,126 uniformed personnel as part of overall efforts to combat the increasingly asymmetrical tactics of Al-Shabaab rebels in the country.

Reaffirming its intention to keep implementation of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the situation there under close review and its readiness to consider the imposition of measures if any party failed significantly to meet its obligations, the Security Council today extended the European Union multinational stabilization force (EUFOR ALTHEA) for another 12 months.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved today a draft resolution on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and heard the introduction of 11 texts, most of them relating to the promotion and protection of human rights.

The General Assembly today elected 14 States to serve on the Human Rights Council, the United Nations body responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe.

The optimism stemming from the latest Middle East peace initiative had become fraught with dangers that could take it “back to square one”, the Fourth Committee heard today as it concluded its consideration of the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.

Supporting the new post-2015 development agenda depended on the United Nations being “fit for purpose”, with a strengthened role in improving global dialogue and policymaking, the head of the Economic and Social Council told the General Assembly today during an open debate on that body.

Twenty-four countries pledged approximately $488 million during a Headquarters event in support of United Nations development activities primarily covering 2014. The amount represents a decline of approximately $377 million in comparison to last year’s pledges.

Despite Israel’s lack of cooperation with the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, that body had confirmed a “number of disturbing trends”, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today, as it began its annual consideration of the item.

Nearing the conclusion of their work for the sixty-eighth session, delegates in the Sixth Committee (Legal) today took action on two draft resolutions and heard the oral reports by the Chairs of two working groups.