Meetings Coverage

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) continued its deliberations today on the principle of “universal jurisdiction”, delegates called for a clear definition of the principle in order to thwart potential misuse, bias and politicizing in its application under the guise of justice being done.

Illicit financial flows represented a major obstacle to development and estimates showed that such flows out of developing countries were eight to 10 times higher than all official development assistance coming in every year, Norway’s representative said today, as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) began its general debate on preventing and combating corrupt practices.

It was the widespread view of the United Nations community that the time for general discussion on an arms trade treaty was over and the international community must move forward and consider the practical details of such a treaty, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) was told this morning, in connection with the introduction of a draft resolution on the treaty.

With the clock ticking on the World Health Organization-backed deadline for comprehensive malaria control, particularly in Africa, by 2010, African diplomats in the General Assembly today appealed to the United Nations and their development partners to improve coordination of resources and fulfil long-awaited pledges of assistance that would help the continent eradicate the scourge once and for all.

Space technology applications to combat and even forecast the spread of disease were fundamental instruments in ensuring the health of current and future generations -– one of the major challenges to meeting the Millennium Development Goals –- the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) was told today, as it began its consideration of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.

In an exchange of views with three of the United Nations’ top watchdogs on torture, speakers in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) expressed support for proactive measures taken by United Nations treaty bodies to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and said the Convention against Torture was a “new generation treaty” that placed value on prevention over a cure.

Acting without a vote, the Sixth Committee this morning approved a resolution on the administration of justice at the United Nations while also opening debate on the scope and application of the principle of universal jurisdiction.

The international community must bolster technical and financial aid to least developed countries to prevent the current global crises from erasing the benefits of their record economic growth rates in recent years, Under-Secretary-General Cheick Sidi Diarra said today, as the Second Committee began its general debate on groups of countries in special situations.

Paths diverged today over how to address the issue of conventional weapons as the quest unfolded to find a delicate balance between security and humanitarian concerns in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), which continued its thematic debate on conventional weapons and heard the introduction of two resolutions dealing with arms stockpiles and military spending.

Discussing a variety of questions involving the United Nations common system this morning, the Fifth Committee considered, among other things: proposed introduction of end-of-service severance pay for staff on fixed-term contracts; possible changes to the mandatory retirement age; salary adjustments in New York and other duty stations; job evaluation standards for General Service and related categories; base/floor salary scale and evolution of the margin; and gender balance in staffing.