Meetings Coverage

Forwarding five consensus draft texts to the General Assembly, including on the questions of Western Sahara, Gibraltar, New Caledonia and Tokelau, the Fourth Committee reaffirmed the inalienable right of all people to self-determination and independence, as it concluded today its general debate on decolonization matters.

Following a remarkable year in the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment that was marked by the establishment of UN-Women and the launch of the Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, it was now time to turn the momentum generated in 2010 into clear, tangible gains for women and girls everywhere, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today.

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) considered the report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), delegates expressed strong concerns on impending budget cuts and the restructuring of plenary meeting locations being proposed for the Commission. In particular, it was said that if meetings were held only in Vienna instead of alternating with New York, it might be difficult for some poorer countries to afford to send representatives.

Although cautious optimism had prevailed at the time of drafting the Secretary-General’s report on external debt sustainability, it had since dissipated in the face of the global economic deterioration, a senior official of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today, as it began its consideration of macroeconomic policy questions.

A paradigm shift in the international conversation on peace and development was needed to respond to the emerging global challenges of the twenty-first century, Bangladesh’s representative told the Disarmament Committee, suggesting that it might be wise to “take a step back and seriously question our approach, while we allow the mindless arms race around us to flourish unencumbered”.

Jurisdictional fissures that allowed United Nations staff on mission to go unprosecuted for committing criminal acts threatened the reputation of the United Nations, some delegates told the Sixth Committee (Legal) today, as it addressed the issue of holding United Nations staff on mission accountable for criminal offences.

The multipolar world of the twenty‑first century called for “a new thinking on security featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination”, China’s representative told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), even amid forceful calls by the non‑nuclear‑armed countries to bind and universalize the pledges that nuclear weapons would never be used against them.

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) took up its agenda item on programme planning today, delegates praised the work of the United Nations main subsidiary body for planning, programming and coordination and urged managers in the Secretariat to diligently implement its conclusions and recommendations concerning the programme budget for the biennium 2012-2013.

Sudan and South Sudan had shown that they could cooperate on matters related to the disputed Abyei border area, but international support was critical to ensure follow-through on commitments by both sides, a top peacekeeping official told the Security Council this morning.

The many decolonization achievements of the United Nations over the years could not be considered truly global while some peoples continued to live under colonial rule, Jamaica’s representative told the Fourth Committee today as it continued its consideration of decolonization issues.