Meetings Coverage

Asserting that the “high priests of disarmament are quite content with the status quo”, Pakistan’s representative told the First Committee that “the deafening silence surrounding the real priorities is pierced by a cacophony about the imaginary malaise of the Conference on Disarmament”.

During a day of lively and wide-ranging discussion on the significance of sport as a driving force for peace and development, and intercultural dialogue as a tool to ensure respect and the equal dignity of all cultures, the General Assembly adopted a consensus resolution recognizing the potential of sport to help attain the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, and foster an atmosphere of tolerance.

The horrific attacks in Democratic Republic of the Congo’s restive North Kivu province in late July and early August, clearly underscored the importance of civilian protection and had provoked a “major internal review” of the protection programmes being carried out by the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission there, the head of that operation told the Security Council today.

Noting with concern the persistence of human rights violations, including sexual violence, in Côte d’Ivoire, the Security Council this morning renewed for six months ending 30 April 2011 its arms embargo and diamond trade ban on the country, as well as targeted sanctions restricting the travel of individuals that threatened the peace process there.

From the reintegration of child soldiers to rural schools-on-wheels and the daily recital of a national pledge, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today of the many ways in which Member States have been promoting and protecting the rights of children, in light of their respective socio-economic and cultural situations.

As the Sixth Committee began its deliberations on the status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts, delegates expressed grave concerns about the accountability of Member States and urged greater compliance to all provisions in the Conventions and Additional Protocols.

After the 2015 target year for realizing the Millennium Development Goals, global policymakers should consider replacing the current economic categories of countries by classifying them in a manner more appropriately reflecting their socio-economic situations and challenges, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.

Joining forces to reduce nuclear arsenals, keeping promises, declaring zones free of nuclear weapons, stemming proliferation, abandoning the rationale for nuclear weapons retention and abolishing them were among the calls to action in five draft resolutions tabled today as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its thematic debate on nuclear weapons.

Noting with deep concern the increase in violence and rising inter-tribal fighting in Darfur, the Security Council this afternoon extended the mandate of the Panel of Experts that monitors the arms embargo and sanctions on those who impede peace in Sudan, for one year, ending 19 October 2011.