Meetings Coverage

Significant progress had been made over the past years in regional efforts to implement the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons, delegates heard today as the second Review Conference on the implementation of that instrument entered its second day.

The international community must redouble efforts to root out the culture of fear, suffering and chaos — as well as prevent an estimated 500,000 deaths a year — that still resulted from the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson emphasized today during the opening of the second international review conference aimed specifically at curbing those devastating effects.

Despite the stagnation in the Middle East peace process, the two-State solution remained the “best available and most realistic option” and all Member States had a responsibility to consider their actions and language in light of that goal, Jeffrey Feltman, the new Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told the Security Council today.

Assurances that the new Government of Serbia would fully implement previous agreements with Kosovo leaders was a welcome sign that the international community should exploit in order to help settle unresolved issues, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today.

Expressing serious concern over a deteriorating humanitarian situation, as well as evictions and demolitions of homes, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People would continue to call on the Security Council and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to hold Israel accountable, its Chair said today.

Warning that the situation in Mali was taking “one alarming turn after another”, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed the Security Council today on a raft of grave developments there — including a deepening humanitarian emergency and mounting evidence that the country’s vast northern region was being overrun by a volatile mix of armed groups — and encouraged the 15-nation body to “seriously consider” imposing sanctions on those fanning the flames of the crisis.

Gravely concerned by the escalating violence in Syria, the General Assembly today strongly condemned Damascus’ indiscriminate use of heavy weapons in civilian areas and its widespread violations of human rights, demanding that all parties “immediately and visibly” commit to ending a conflict that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called “a test of everything this Organization stands for”.

Deeply concerned by the recent up-tick in violence and insecurity in parts of Darfur, and clashes between Sudanese Government forces and armed groups, the Security Council today extended for one year the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, and approved the Secretary-General’s recommendation to reconfigure the mission so that its personnel focused on areas of the region “with the highest security threats”.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women concluded its work today by adopting observations and recommendations arising from its consideration of eight country reports that it took up during its fifty-second session. Under consideration during the three-week session were periodic reports submitted by the Governments of Guyana, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand, Samoa and the Bahamas.

The responsibility now rested on the world to demonstrate its deep commitment to translating sustainable development into concrete results, according to the much-anticipated “Rio+20” draft resolution adopted unanimously by the General Assembly today.