Meetings Coverage

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.

The Economic and Social Council wrapped up its 2012 substantive session today with the adoption of nine resolutions and five decisions on a range of topics — from women’s empowerment to human settlements and support for least developed countries — that would allow the 54-member body to assume its rightful place as the hub of coordinated action in setting the post-2015 development agenda.

Describing the divergent positions of Guinea-Bissau’s international partners on the transitional process emerging in the country following the 12 April military coup d'état, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative there today appealed to the Security Council to call on them to forge a unified strategy for restoring legitimate order.

The Security Council today, in line with the Secretary-General’s recommendation to reduce the strength of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) by the equivalent of one battalion, adjusted the military component to 8,837 personnel, comprising 8,645 troops and staff officers and 192 military observers, and extended the mandate for another year, until 31 July 2013.

Touching on issues ranging from drug control to the challenges faced by indigenous youth, to post-earthquake recovery in Haiti and the critical role of the family, the Economic and Social Council today adopted 18 texts forwarded by its subsidiary bodies, as well as four independently submitted resolutions, while deciding to recommend five additional texts to the General Assembly for final adoption.