Meetings Coverage

Meeting this morning on the penultimate day of its fifty-sixth annual session, the Commission on the Status of Women heard introductions of a number of draft texts — tackling topics ranging from the particular needs of indigenous women to the release of women and children hostages — on which the body was expected to take action tomorrow.

The Special Representative for the Secretary-General in Haiti told the Security Council this morning that progress in security conditions and rule of law institutions allowed the planned drawdown of the United Nations Mission to proceed, although he was deeply concerned over the political tensions that resulted in the recent resignation of the Prime Minister and said it could threaten the progress of the country to democracy.

As post-revolution Libya began to undo its authoritarian past and piece together a democratic future, the top United Nations official in the North African country today urged the Security Council to support the creation of a compact, flexible United Nations mission that could respond effectively to the priorities set by the Libyan Government and help ensure a genuine role for women and youth in the transition process.

Since young people had great ideas, but trouble implementing them, the United Nations should lead by example, allowing those under age 16 to take part in conferences, the Commission on the Status of Women heard during a lively interactive panel discussion today on engaging youth to advance gender equality.

Gravely concerned by reports of violent cross-border clashes between Sudan and South Sudan, the Security Council today demanded that all parties, including proxy forces, cease all military operations in the border areas and put an end to the cycle of violence.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today weighed in on the Secretary-General’s proposal to restructure the pension schemes for incoming judges of three United Nations courts — a move that would save the Organization nearly $10 million in the next three decades.

An unbreakable link between women’s empowerment and sustainable development was underlined today by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN-Women head Michelle Bachelet and a range of private-sector executives, as they marked the second anniversary of the Women’s Empowerment Principles.

Calls to incorporate gender equality into a wide array of challenging global issues — from sustainable development to migration to urbanization — were at the forefront of discussions today, as the Commission on the Status of Women concluded the general debate segment of its fifty-sixth annual session.

Security Council members affirmed this morning that the period of political transition in Somalia must end in August and that, in order to meet that deadline, the country’s leaders, supported by the international community, must use the results of the 23 February London Conference to pursue a comprehensive strategy for peace, security and development.

Proposals to change the methodology to determine the scale of Member States’ assessments to the United Nations, concerns over the delay in implementing the Capital Master Plan and whether to make public reports of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) dominated the discussions of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today, as it opened its resumed session.