Meetings Coverage

The General Assembly extended the terms of office of seven permanent judges and nine ad litem judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, as well as the terms of office of 13 permanent judges and 10 ad litem judges on the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in order for those courts to meet their revised completion strategies.

Millions around the world would give 67 minutes of community service in tribute to Nelson Mandela’s life and legacy, for the 67 years he dedicated to a fair and just society, said South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mshsabane, at a gathering of the General Assembly today.

In a world virtually ruled by new technologies and with millions of people obsessed with instant access to information through mobile networks and the Internet, cybersecurity must be placed high on the United Nations agenda, warned Economic and Social Council Vice-President Somduth Soborun of Mauritius.

Despite a decade of significant social and economic changes and the 2009 global economic and financial crisis, the Russian Federation remained intent on using legislation, judicial reforms and increases in social benefit payments to improve women’s status, members of a well-represented Russian delegation told the Women’s Anti-Discrimination Committee today.

Firm national action on security sector and other reforms, as well as sustained international attention to the Government’s performance and regional issues, could help overcome threats to stability in Guinea-Bissau, the senior United Nations official in that country said in a briefing to the Security Council today.

Expressing grave concern at the increasing number of people affected by humanitarian emergencies, including those associated with natural hazards, the Economic and Social Council today pressed the United Nations, on one hand, to strengthen humanitarian capacities by transferring technology and expertise to developing nations, and urged Member States to develop disaster preparedness and risk reduction measures, on the other.

More than a year after the abrogation of its Constitution in April 2009, Fiji was working with a series of newly established decrees to ensure that the rights of women were protected as the South Pacific island nation shaped a new Constitution by 2012 before holding elections two years later, members of the Fiji Government delegation told the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today.

With natural disasters increasing in frequency and complicated, multiparty conflicts hampering the delivery of humanitarian assistance and endangering relief workers, senior United Nations officials joined diplomats today in stressing the urgent need for early preparedness and timely, predictable and coordinated efforts to respond to growing demands for effective humanitarian assistance.

Argentina, despite two economic crises in the past decade — one domestic and one global — and major political changes, had firmly rooted the Women’s Anti-Discrimination Convention in its national policies, governmental structures, educational and social programmes, and health initiatives, said its delegation today, reporting to the body that monitors compliance with that human rights treaty.

Amid daunting difficulties and persistent challenges, West Africa had made “significant progress” in crisis prevention and peacebuilding over the past six months, due to the will of its people and the cooperation of regional institutions, a top United Nations official told the Security Council today.