Meetings Coverage

The General Assembly, voting nearly-unanimously, adopted its twenty-second consecutive resolution calling for an end to the United States’ decades-long economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba.

The Security Council today recognized the importance of strengthened cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), acknowledging the United Nations’ continued dialogue with the 57-member body in the areas of peacemaking, preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.

Peacekeeping was one of the most effective tools at the disposal of the international community to assist countries in the difficult transition from conflict to peace, the Fourth Committee heard today as it began its comprehensive review of peacekeeping operations, with briefings by the heads of the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support.

The biggest blind spot of the development international agenda – the Millennium Development Goals – was its silence over inequalities, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today, as it continued its discussions on the promotion and protection of human rights.

Building upon its work over the past year, the International Law Commission had made marked progress through launching many new undertakings, the Sixth Committee (Legal) heard today, as it began its review of the Commission’s annual report.

Agriculture was the livelihood of the majority of people living in rural areas and had significantly contributed to alleviating poverty, the representative of Sri Lanka told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today as it considered agriculture development, food security and nutrition.

Development of anti-ballistic missile systems and their integration into space assets was an “especially worrying dimension” and the resultant arms race in space would aggravate the intensity of conflicts on Earth, with potentially disastrous consequences, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it concluded its thematic consideration of the item.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today heard United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon formally unveil an initial budget proposal of $5.404 billion for the 2014-2015 biennium that begins on 1 January. That figure was 2.9 per cent lower than the budget for the current biennium that was set forth last December, he said. Despite efforts to minimize the impact of reductions, it was unrealistic to think they would have no impact.

Three weeks after the Security Council expressed alarm at the significant and rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Syria, urging all appropriate steps be taken to protect civilians, the international response on the ground remained “severely insufficient”, the top United Nations humanitarian official said today.

Human exposure to radiation, after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which damaged the nuclear power plant at Fukushima, was low or generally low, with no immediate health effects, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today in a briefing by the Chair of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation.