Meetings Coverage

The General Assembly today noted with satisfaction the establishment of a new strategic relationship between the Russian Federation and the United States and the desire of the two countries to bring their respective nuclear postures into alignment with that new relationship, as well as their endeavour to reduce further the role and importance of nuclear weapons, according to one of 58 resolutions and decisions it adopted on the recommendation of its First Committee.

Describing the opposition candidate’s victory in the 28 November Côte d’Ivoire presidential run-off election as “irrefutable”, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the West African country told the Security Council today that it was crucial to safeguard the poll results.

Stressing the international community’s responsibility to address the needs of Palestinian refugees and expressing alarm over the chronic funding shortfall of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) set up to support them, 20 donors this morning pledged approximately $214 million to UNRWA for 2011, and several more indicated their contributions would be forthcoming.

Reiterating its deep concern at the serious adverse impacts on the marine environment and biodiversity, and highlighting the links between the health of the world’s oceans and sustainable human development, the General Assembly today adopted two resolutions calling on all States to bolster their support for the United Nations framework established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

As part of its efforts to call to account those bearing the greatest responsibility for recent atrocities, the Security Council today heard reports by the heads of the international tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia as it considered obstacles to the completion of their work, the consequences for the fortification of international criminal law and the Tribunals’ legal legacy.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered a Secretariat proposal to give the newly-minted UN Women the financial backing it needs to carry out the Organization’s efforts to eliminate discrimination against women and girls around the world.

Among the 17 resolutions and two decisions adopted this afternoon on the recommendation of the Sixth Committee (Legal) by new language within a text on measures to eliminate international terrorism, the General Assembly expressed concern at the increase in kidnapping and hostage-taking for ransom and/or political concessions.

The General Assembly must take a more decisive role in the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General, improve its coordination with other United Nations organs, and ensure its resolutions were fully implemented in order to truly live out its intended role as the Organization’s chief policymaking forum, delegates stressed today as they considered ways to revitalize the 192-member body.

Four days after Haiti held a first round of elections and nearly a year after a devastating earthquake hit the impoverished Caribbean nation, Secretariat officials proposed a budget of more than $850 million for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) at today’s meeting of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).

Concluding its sixty-fifth session today, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) approved 15 draft resolutions, including one on agriculture development and food security, by which the General Assembly would stress the need to enhance production, productivity and sustainability, while calling for the timely realization of the 2009 G-8 commitment to mobilize $20 billion over three years for sustainable agricultural development.