Meetings Coverage

Mounting a successful campaign to counter, and finally eradicate, what many perceived to be the greatest contemporary security threat — weapons of mass destruction — depended on concrete enforcement and verification, delegates heard today as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) addressed some of the obstacles to strengthening the key conventions prohibiting biological and chemical weapons.

During a Security Council meeting this morning on Somalia that also heard from high officials from the African Union and the Somali Transitional Government, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the Council to take “bold and courageous decisions” to strengthen the African-led peacekeeping force and the transitional authorities of the faction-wracked country.

The Department of Public Information was the public voice of the Organization, and the promotion of multiculturalism and multilingualism must remain the hallmark of the United Nations, infusing efforts to achieve common undertakings and mature responses in every aspect of its work, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today just prior to its approval, without a vote, of two draft resolutions on questions relating to information.

The world was witnessing a situation in which pressures on land and water were increasing at “unprecedented speed,” with dramatic consequences for millions of farmers, fishermen and indigenous people and their right to food, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural) was told today.

When the Sixth Committee (Legal) today took up the issue of transboundary harm from hazardous activities, the discussion centred largely on how the draft articles on prevention of the harm and the draft principles on allocation of loss could be most effectively engaged, either in concert or independently of one another.

With five years left until the 2015 deadline for meeting the Millennium Development Goals, and millions of people being pushed deeper into poverty worldwide, the international community must take immediate and comprehensive remedial action at the regional, national and international levels, delegates emphasized today as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) considered the eradication of poverty and other development issues.

Facing new technological challenges, calming regional tensions, destroying arms and building strong common regulatory initiatives were among the themes of a basket of four resolutions and one decision tabled today as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) continued its thematic debates.

The Governments of Chad and the Central African Republic were doing their best to take over the tasks of the United Nations Mission there, known as MINURCAT, but needed continued support in that effort, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today. “We must not let MINURCAT’s hard-won achievements fade because of lack of funding and support,” said Youssef Mahmoud, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of MINURCAT.

While extending its network beyond traditional means of communication to reach new geographic and demographics audiences, the Department of Public Information (DPI) should also strengthen existing channels such as radio and the United Nations Information Centres, and continue striving to achieve language parity, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today.