Meetings Coverage

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), in its last meeting of the current session, met this morning to fill the remaining vacancies on its Bureau for the upcoming sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly. The Committee elected by acclamation Hossam Aly ( Egypt), Hilario G. Davide, Jr. (Philippines), Florian Laudi (Germany) as Vice-Chairmen, and Tetyana Pokhval’ona (Ukraine) as Rapporteur for the Assembly session.

The refusal by Myanmar’s senior leadership to allow Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was not only a deep disappointment, but also a major lost opportunity for the country, he told the Security Council today. Briefing the Council on his recent visit to Myanmar, he said that allowing such a meeting would have sent a constructive, conciliatory signal inside the country and abroad.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon this afternoon spelled out five key ways to help post-conflict countries achieve sustainable peace more rapidly and effectively, as he addressed the Peacebuilding Commission’s third session.

While welcoming West Africa’s positive strides in post-conflict recovery, peacebuilding and governance today, the Security Council noted with “deep concern” the fragile nature of those achievements, and stressed the importance of adopting a comprehensive strategy to tackle a raft of emerging threats in the subregion.

Significant progress had been made in the integration of local armed groups into the Congolese military, and in their incorporation into its operations against foreign fighters, but the two processes had engendered serious humanitarian consequences for the civilian population, Alan Doss, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, told the Security Council this morning.

Condemning the renewed attacks against Somalia’s fledgling unity Government and war-weary civilian population by Al Shabaab and other violent opposition groups, the Security Council today demanded an immediate end to that offensive, saying it would promptly consider what action to take against Eritrea and others providing support to armed groups and foreign fighters undermining the peace and reconciliation process in the strife-torn Horn of Africa country.

The General Assembly today endorsed the outcome of the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development, which, among other things, outlined the need for sustained follow-up within the United Nations system to the issues raised during that historic meeting held from 24 to 30 June.

While praising fragile West Africa’s steady progress towards lasting peace, senior United Nations officials warned today that a string of countries along the subregion’s Atlantic coast were fast becoming hubs for the trafficking of cocaine to Europe, and urged the Security Council to support efforts to tackle that emerging threat, as well as other challenges, including fallout from the global financial crisis and recent unconstitutional changes of government there.

Urging the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to take all possible measures to complete its work expeditiously, the Security Council today extended the term of office of six permanent judges until 31 December 2010, or until the completion of the cases to which they were or will be assigned if sooner.

Urging the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to take all possible measures to complete its work expeditiously, the Security Council today extended the term of office of 11 permanent judges until 31 December 2010, or until the completion of the cases to which they were or will be assigned if sooner.