Meetings Coverage

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.

Accounts of programmes and policies aimed at narrowing the gender gap and empowering rural women continued to dominate discussions as the Commission on the Status of Women continued its fifty-sixth annual session today.

Calling for urgent and concerted action to end months of violence in Syria, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said the international community had failed the Syrian people, particularly the many innocent civilians trapped in the war-wracked cities Homs and Hama, where the Government was stepping up its systematic “atrocious assault”.

To ensure Government funding for women’s empowerment and gender equality, budget-makers must call on all ministries to identify their top gender-related priorities and teach staff how to mainstream them into sectoral budgets, State finance officials told the Commission on the Status of Women today, as it held an interactive panel discussion on that subject.

Adopting its 2012 draft report, the Special Committee charged with examining suggestions and proposals regarding the Charter of the United Nations and strengthening the world body’s role in promoting international law concluded its regular session today, forwarding its recommendations to the General Assembly.