Fourth Committee

The past year had witnessed a deterioration of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as Israel intensified its military aggression, serious human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law, instead of pursuing peace, the observer for Palestine said today as the Fourth Committee began its annual discussion of Israeli practices affecting the human rights of Arabs in the occupied territories.

The “success” of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the last 60 years could also be interpreted as a measure of the collective failure to resolve the political question that had led to the refugee crisis in the first place, Indonesia’s representative told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) as it continued its general debate on the work of that Agency this afternoon.

The most immediate challenge facing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East was a funding shortfall that risked a suspension of essential services, the Agency’s head said this afternoon, as the Fourth Committee launched its annual consideration of the Agency’s work.

The General Assembly, deeply alarmed by the number of mines laid each year, as well as the presence of a decreasing but still very large number of mines and explosive remnants of war as a result of armed conflicts, would urge all States to assist countries affected by those weapons in the establishment and development of national mine-action capacities, according to a draft text approved today without a vote by the Fourth Committee.

Combined efforts by the United Nations, Governments, civil society and operational implementing partners to efficiently coordinate mine action-related activities gone far to end the suffering caused by landmines and explosive remnants of war, Assistant Secretary-General for the Rule of Law and Security Institutions of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today.

Given the complex threats faced worldwide, the flagship United Nations activity of peacekeeping was at a critical juncture and must be implemented to its fullest potential, or it risked undermining the hope that had been associated with the Organization for more than 60 years, delegates stressed today, as the Fourth Committee continued its general debate on the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects.

As the United Nations strove to keep pace with the demands of peacekeeping around the world in operations that were ever increasing in scope and complexity, delegates in the Fourth Committee today called for clear guidance for peacekeeping field personnel, especially when entrusted with protection mandates for civilians in areas of armed conflict.

While applauding the heroism of United Nations peacekeepers, often operating in harsh environments, Fourth Committee delegations drew attention to a wide range of topics during their annual review of those operations, centred on critical operational aspects, such as the need for force protection, along with timely and reliable logistical support, an effective political process, and cooperation between the United Nations’ different organs and troop- and police-contributors.

United Nations peacekeeping was an increasingly complex and dangerous endeavour that rested on the shared partnership of Member States, the Security Council and the Secretariat, succeeding quietly, every day, in mitigating harm to thousands of civilians around the globe, Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy told the Fourth Committee today, as it began its comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping in all its aspects.

As the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its general debate on the peaceful uses of outer space this afternoon, delegates greeted the increase in the number of countries focusing on outer space issues, affirming space technologies as of “inestimable value” to the Earth’s population, but warned at the same time of the danger of its militarization.