Meetings Coverage

The General Assembly concluded the main part of its substantive session early this morning with the adoption a $5.16 billion budget for the United Nations 2010‑2011 biennium, and importantly, a resolution that maintains the current scale by which States are assessed dues to the Organization, reflecting a compromise between the need to review that formula and maintain a balanced approach to assessments.

Recognizing the numerous difficulties faced by survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the General Assembly today adopted a resolution requesting the Secretary-General to encourage relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes to provide assistance in the areas of education, medical care, skills training and microcredit programmes aimed at promoting self-sufficiency.

Welcoming the report of the African Union High-level Panel on Darfur, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called today for the continuation of efforts to encourage the Government of the Sudan and rebel movements to make concessions and embrace the consensus being built by United Nations-African Union Chief Mediator Djibril Bassolé.

Welcoming the 1 January establishment of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA), the Security Council this morning requested the Secretary-General to propose in his next report clear benchmarks to guide its work, while it demanded that the country’s Government and other stakeholders hold credible, timely elections in 2010.

The Security Council today extended until 31 December 2010 the arrangements for depositing into the Development Fund for Iraq of proceeds from oil and gas export sales. The mandate of the International Advisory and Monitoring Board intended to monitor the Development Fund was also extended.

In a bid to boost recovery from the global financial, economic crisis and tackle entrenched policy challenges to long-term growth, trade and sustainable development, the Assembly laid the groundwork for consideration of those issues by unanimously adopting –- out of 38 development-related actions put forward by its Second Committee –- several resolutions and landmark texts on food security, legal rights for the poor, and principles governing humankind’s relationship with the earth.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today approved a draft that would have the Assembly reaffirm the Organization’s new internal justice system, which became effective on 1 July, and request the Secretary-General to provide information on how justice would be administered to non-staff personnel under the new system -- such as contractors, consultants, daily paid workers, personnel under service contracts and personnel under special service arrangements.

The General Assembly today adopted 56 resolutions and 9 decisions recommended by its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), acting with new-found consensus on several historically contentious texts, including those on the rights of the child, the right to food and the report of the Human Rights Council.

Israel, the Palestinians and a revitalized diplomatic Quartet must do more in concert to avert a backward slide in peace efforts, Robert Serry, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Security Council today.