Meetings Coverage

While noting efforts by the Government of Guinea-Bissau to achieve stability, the Security Council expressed serious concern this morning about the continuing growth of drug trafficking and organized crime, which threatened peace and security in the country and the wider subregion.

The Economic and Social Council today continued the work of its general segment today, adopting by consensus 10 resolutions and 7 decisions broadly aimed at strengthening crime prevention measures, tackling illegal narcotics trade and extending effective social protections to the world’s most vulnerable populations, especially in the wake of crises.

With amendments to the country’s Constitution, the enactment of a new Penal Code and the creation of the Committee on the Equal Rights and Opportunities within the Turkish Grand Assembly, Turkey had worked consistently over the last decade to improve the status of women, the Turkish delegation told the forty-sixth session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today.

Detailing the conduct of ongoing “proximity talks” for Middle East peace, a top United Nations official called today on Israelis and Palestinians to remove the obstacles to direct negotiations, as he opened a day-long Security Council debate in which some 37 speakers participated.

With dramatic socio-economic and geographic stresses increasing urban poverty and slowing efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the Economic and Social Council today adopted eight consensus decisions that envisioned a world in which economic progress, social advancement and environmental protection were mutually reinforcing elements of sustainable development.

In today’s meeting of the Women’s Anti-Discrimination Committee, Australia heralded the notable strides it had made through advocacy, policy, legislation and national strategies to empower women, asserting that it rated well against international measures of success, but acknowledged, too, the remaining challenges, especially facing indigenous women and girls, in reducing violence against women, improving women’s economic security, and ensuring women’s equal place in society.

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe today commended recent steps by the Governments of Eritrea and Djibouti to negotiate a settlement, with Qatar acting as mediator, to the border dispute between them, which erupted into conflict in March 2008.

Expressing deep concern about the grave situation of Palestinian women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, resulting from Israeli occupation, the Economic and Social Council adopted a text today urging continued international attention to promote and protect their human rights, as well as intensified measures to improve their difficult conditions.

In any country, the devastating legacy of conflict — death, disease, population displacement and capital flight — could erase hard-won development gains and States emerging from such situations must manage myriad and often competing priorities in order to meet all eight of the Millennium Development Goals, high-level United Nations officials stressed today.

The Security Council today renewed its commitment to preventive diplomacy, pointing to a need to build capability and cooperation at the national, regional and international levels for that purpose, and encouraging the Secretary-General to bring to its attention any matter that might threaten peace.