General Assembly

The Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People issued the following statement today:

NAIROBI, 2 July — The United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, held at the United Nations Headquarters in Nairobi from 1 to 2 July, focused today on the Palestinian National Development Plan 2014-2016, titled “Long-term strategies of the State of Palestine for Economic Development and Growth”.

NAIROBI, 2 July — Ahead of the closing today of the United Nations Seminar, participants considered mobilization of global assistance to the Palestinian people and its effective use for sustainable growth in the context of a new aid paradigm, hearing that foreign aid might not be the key to unlock development, as many had thought.

NAIROBI, 1 July — The United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People opened in Nairobi today, under the theme “Fostering Active International Solidarity with the Palestinians: Solidifying the Economic Underpinnings of an Independent State”.

NAIROBI, 1 July — The first plenary session of the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, began with a presentation by Maria-Jose Torres-Macho, Deputy Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People issued the following statement today:

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, Kenya, on 1 and 2 July, under the theme “Fostering Active International Solidarity with the Palestinians: Solidifying the Economic Underpinnings of an Independent State”.

Concluding its week-long session today, the Fifth Biennial Meeting of States on small arms and light weapons adopted by consensus an outcome document that highlighted the international community’s renewed commitment to preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit trade.

Representatives of international, regional and non-governmental groups discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the United Nations small arms action plan, with many urging States to fully implement the 2001 instrument and others cautioning against infringing legitimate business and personal rights, as the Fifth Biennial Meeting of States continued its session today.

International cooperation and assistance in capacity-building and technology transfer were key to the implementation of the United Nations Programme of Action to counter the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, delegates concurred as the fifth Biennial Meeting of States moved into day three of its session.