Meetings Coverage

It was critical for the parties in both North and South Sudan to reach accord on all outstanding issues under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement before the South declared independence on 9 July, the Security Council heard today, as the leaders of its recent mission to Africa briefed members on the visit.

Top officials from the United Nations war crimes Tribunals investigating atrocities committed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the Balkan wars of the 1990s today hailed the recent arrests of high-profile fugitives, but warned the Security Council that the work — and legacies — of their courts was imperilled by persistent staffing woes, challenges in enforcing sentences, and the failure to set up a trust fund for the victims.

Demanding an immediate withdrawal of the Sudanese Government and of all military elements from the contested Abyei area, the Security Council today strongly condemned the Sudanese Government’s military seizure of the town and the resulting displacement of tens of thousands of residents, through a statement read out by Nelson Messone of Gabon, the Council’s President for June.

SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES, 2 June — The Caribbean regional seminar on decolonization had been a “lively” forum for sharing a range of views on the situations in the 16 Non-Self Governing Territories around the world, and the Special Committee on Decolonization must now undertake a self-analysis to better imagine its role in carrying out its work in the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2011-2020), the Chair of the Special Committee said today.

SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES, 1 June — In their second day of discussion, participants in the Caribbean regional seminar on decolonization today pressed the Special Committee on Decolonization charged with monitoring implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples to take a more active role in unlocking long-standing political stalemates that had bedevilled progress around the world

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro this morning made a strong call for creating a global green economy characterized by abundant jobs, sustainable livelihoods, dynamic economic growth and clean energy. Kicking off a day-long informal General Assembly thematic debate on “Green economy: a pathway to sustainable development”, she said the green economy also must address the menaces caused by climate change, notably food and energy insecurity and deforestation.

In a message to participants of the Caribbean regional seminar on decolonization, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon encouraged the Special Committee on Decolonization to work towards an action-oriented dialogue at all levels with the Non-Self Governing Territories and administering Powers alike, as he launched the work of the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2011-2020).

With several vexing issues needing resolution before a peaceful separation could occur in Sudan, senior United Nations officials briefed the Security Council today on the necessity of avoiding “an acrimonious divorce with lasting consequences” as they discussed the fate of the world body’s six-year-old mission in the country, whose mandate was set to expire on 9 July, the day on which the Government of South Sudan was poised officially to declare independence from Khartoum.

Protection of civilians, securing a commitment for indirect negotiations and planning for post-conflict peacebuilding were the key priorities of the United Nations in Libya, the Organization’s top political official told the Security Council this morning.

Concluding its tenth anniversary session today with the adoption of a draft report on that session, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues looked to its future work, welcoming the opportunity and full responsibility in playing a central role in preparations for the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples and underlining the need for the equal, direct and meaningful participation of indigenous communities during all stages of that landmark meeting.