Meetings Coverage

Noting “widespread interest” among Member States in contributing to the work of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, particularly troop-contributing countries, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today approved a draft resolution that would have the Assembly endorse the main points of the Special Committee’s report from its 2010 session, which, among other things, addresses cooperation with troop-contributing countries.

Taking up the Secretary-General’s proposed $313.9 million budget for next year’s peacekeeping backstopping activities — known formally as the peacekeeping support account — speakers at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) said increases must be proportionate to need, and called for “utmost prudence” in determining its size.

Only through collective dedication and adherence to the decisions taken by the Commission on Sustainable Development — which required commitments by Governments and all partners — could sustainable development be achieved, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today as the Commission held its high-level segment on obstacles and constraints to implementation of the agenda pertaining to themes of its current cycle. The high-level segment runs until Friday, 14 May.

Participants in an open debate in the Security Council today stressed the continued need for a unified, global fight against terrorism and welcomed efforts to make the Council’s three counter-terrorism committees more effective, coordinated and transparent, following briefings by their Chairpersons.

Partnerships had become integral to the “development landscape” -- perhaps the most popular medium for increasing involvement by non-traditional actors in decision-making -- but better coordination was needed to harness effectively their potential for creating change, experts told the Commission on Sustainable Development today as it held two multi-stakeholder dialogues aimed at advancing its work and, more broadly, the goals of the landmark Agenda 21.

Continued international support was crucial for Burundi as it faced multiple election processes this year and socio-economic challenges following the critical democratic transition, Charles Petrie, Executive Representative of the Secretary-General, told the Security Council today.

Resuming its consideration of peacekeeping finance and field support against the backdrop of an unprecedented $8 billion-plus peacekeeping budget, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today heard calls for a “clear message” to be sent to the Secretary-General on cross-cutting issues relating to peacekeeping administration and budgeting, on which agreement had eluded the Committee in the past two years.

Devoting a day of its two-week annual session to small island developing States, the Commission on Sustainable Development heard calls today for renewed efforts to recognize the vulnerabilities and special situations of those States and for urgent action to help them build resilience and a sustainable future.

The Committee on Information this afternoon called on the United Nations Department of Public Information to continue to advance, through new technology, multilingualism, partnership, efficiency and local outreach, to better raise awareness of critical international issues.

In the midst of a broad agenda — covering the financial situation of the United Nations, cross-cutting issues in peacekeeping finance and the new global field support strategy — the Fifth Committee approved a draft resolution that would authorize the Secretary-General to enter into commitments of $120.64 million for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, to support a rise in troop and police levels, as endorsed by the Security Council following the disastrous January earthquake.