Meetings Coverage

The General Assembly this morning, after defeating two proposals put forward by Syria, found consensus and endorsed the Secretariat’s recommendations for the accreditation of non-governmental organizations and other major groups currently not in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, but wishing to attend and contribute to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended 35 entities for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, and postponed consideration of 10 applications, as it resumed its 2012 session.

Deploring the continuing refusal of coup leaders in Guinea-Bissau to reinstate legitimate authority in the country, the Security Council this afternoon imposed targeted sanctions against them, establishing a new monitoring committee and requesting the Secretary-General to be actively engaged in coordinating international efforts to help restore constitutional order.

Lamenting the enduring manifestations of the “Doctrine of Discovery” and other morally condemnable, socially unjust and racist policies used for centuries by colonizers as legal justification to disenfranchise indigenous peoples and seize their lands, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today urged the rejection of such “nefarious” dogmas, and encouraged measures that would redefine relations between native and aboriginal peoples and the State based on justice.

Deeply concerned over the slow pace of global economic recovery and the risk of another recession, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on Governments to strengthen their resolve to achieve sustainable development.

Demanding that Sudan and South Sudan demilitarize the disputed Abyei region and resolve a deadlock in putting in place previously agreed administrative arrangements, the Security Council this morning extended the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for the area, known as UNISFA, for six months.

The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, in a brief meeting this afternoon, considered the draft agenda for its twelfth session, which, if approved, would be held at Headquarters from 20 to 31 May 2013.

Hailing the adoption in 2007 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a “landmark” achievement borne of unprecedented cooperation among indigenous civil society groups and Governments, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this morning urged the entire international community to bolster support for native peoples and ensure that their rights, languages and cultural heritage was protected.

The international community must “take a collective stand” to create a new global growth model based on stable economies, social equality, decent job opportunities and greater financial regulation to tackle the ongoing global economic crisis, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and senior economic officials said today at Headquarters.

Security Council members today expressed their confidence in the International Criminal Court’s actions in bringing to justice perpetrators of serious crimes in Libya last year, after its Chief Prosecutor notified them that Libyan authorities had requested that proceedings against a son of former leader Muammar al-Qadhafi should be held in the country itself rather than transferred to the Court.