Meetings Coverage

As the General Assembly entered week two of its annual debate, Canada’s Minister for Foreign Affairs said he rejected the “pernicious notion” that human dignity could be “sliced up, compartmentalized or compromised”, since it was impossible, in a pluralistic society, to protect some human rights and freedoms while infringing others.

For small island developing States, the devastating impacts of climate change struck at the very heart of their survival, and without renewed political efforts to mitigate their reach, those nations would continue to suffer dramatic setbacks in their economic and social well-being, several world leaders warned today, as the General Assembly moved into the fifth day of its annual debate.

Strategies used in the global fight against terrorism came under scrutiny today as the General Assembly entered the fourth day of its general debate. The Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation said that a common argument had been deployed recently to prove that the use of force was the most effective method to address problems, although all experience of such interventions had demonstrated that it was ineffective, meaningless and destructive.

Deeply outraged by the use of chemical weapons on 21 August in a Damascus suburb, as concluded by a United Nations investigation team, the Security Council this evening endorsed the expeditious destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme, with inspections to begin by 1 October, and agreed that in the event of non-compliance, it would impose “Chapter VII” measures.

Yemen’s political transition was at a critical juncture, with the country facing several serious political, economic, humanitarian and security challenges, the Security Council heard today.

Expressing grave concern that the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons continued to cause significant loss of life around the world, senior ministers in the Security Council reminded Governments today of their obligation to comply fully and effectively with Council-mandated arms embargoes.

Recognizing that women’s economic empowerment contributed greatly to the effectiveness of post-conflict prosperity, the Peacebuilding Commission today urged Governments, as well as international and regional organizations, to improve female participation in all stages of peace processes, from conflict resolution to post-conflict planning.

Today’s Africa would not be divided or deterred by those wishing to disrupt its progress, the President of Ghana told the General Assembly today as it continued its annual debate.

Reflecting the growing complexity of contemporary global security threats and the often bipolar nature of the nuclear disarmament debate, speakers in the General Assembly today grappled with the challenging elements of the process and the often divergent political interests that constrain it.