Meetings Coverage

Concluding its second resumed substantive session, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today recommended financial arrangements for 14 United Nations peacekeeping operations for the year beginning 1 July 2013 and ending 30 June 2014, which, once approved by the General Assembly, would exceed the previous year’s figure due to the addition of a new mission for Mali.

Acting on the recommendations of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the General Assembly today adopted its peacekeeping budget for the period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014.

Expressing grave concern at all violations of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, the Security Council this morning extended until 31 December 2013 the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, which monitors the ceasefire in the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria.

The Security Council today decided to remove Iraq from its obligations under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter concerning the return of Kuwaiti and third-State nationals or their remains and their property seized by Iraq’s former regime during its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The senior United Nations official in the Sahel today unveiled an integrated strategy for combating extremists and terrorists in the region and beyond, as well as arms proliferation and transnational organized crime.

The expanded use of new technologies — including unarmed drones — in United Nations peacekeeping operations could bolster both military and political intelligence and help save lives, the Security Council heard today during briefings by force commanders of a number of missions.

Calling for a bold response to the global employment crisis, the Secretary-General urged that young entrepreneurs be encouraged, educated and empowered in order to meet the challenge of filling nearly half a billion jobs by 2030.

Despite significant challenges and escalating tensions on the ground, the United Nations must not let a “collective sense of impotence” erode its sense of responsibility in the Middle East, warned a top political official as he briefed the Security Council this afternoon.

The United Nations top official in Mali commended the 18 June Preliminary Agreement on the Presidential Elections and Inclusive Negotiations between that country’s transitional Government and armed groups in the north as an “important first step” towards full restoration of constitutional order and territorial integrity in the strife-torn country.

Speakers at a special event today highlighted the private sector’s potential to help fragile countries emerge from years, if not decades, of conflict by creating jobs and economic stability while healing rifts among diverse peoples.