Meetings Coverage

The States parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea today heard briefings by the heads of the three bodies established by the treaty -- the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, International Seabed Authority and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf -- as they continued their annual session.

Robert Serry, Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, told the Security Council today that diplomatic efforts to reinvigorate the Middle East peace process had continued, and recent meetings -- including of the Quartet on Friday -- were part of a concentrated push to create the conditions for re-launching efforts for a two-State solution.

With presidential elections in Guinea-Bissau less than a week away, the top United Nations envoy there, concerned that the people of the poverty-stricken West African nation were gripped by paranoia and the Government was paralysed following a wave of recent political assassinations, today appealed to the Security Council and the international community to provide much-needed support for the ballot, as well as for much-needed institutional and governance reforms.

The Security Council this morning renewed the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which has supervised the ceasefire between Israel and Syria since 1974, for the six months ending 30 December 2009.

The Special Committee on Decolonization concluded its resumed session this morning by taking up the question of Tokelau, the report of the Caribbean Regional Seminar and the report on issues related to its own work.

The States parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea opened their nineteenth meeting todaywith a call for universal accession to that treaty, adoption of a provisional agenda and election of its Bureau.

If the Central African Republic was to build on the momentum created by the national political dialogue held in late 2008 and to overcome threats posed by sporadic rebel violence in its northern villages, the United Nations top political official today told the Security Council that the country must take ownership of and fully implement its recently adopted peacebuilding framework, which covered key priorities such as security, disarmament, good governance and development.

The Special Committee on Decolonization approved a two-part draft resolution today by which the General Assembly would reaffirm that there was no alternative to the principle of self-determination, which was a fundamental human right.

The Security Council today commended the important efforts made by the Government of Iraq to strengthen democracy and the rule of law, to improve security and public order and combat terrorism and sectarian violence across the country, following a debate among its members and a briefing by the outgoing head of the United Nations Mission in Iraq.

Having heard a statement by the Foreign Minister of Argentina in addition to petitioners from the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), the Special Committee on Decolonization recommended today that the General Assembly call for direct negotiations between Argentina and the United Kingdom over that Non-Self-Governing Territories.