General Assembly

Strongly criticized today for harbouring negative stereotypes of women and discriminatory attitudes toward immigrants and minorities, Italian officials countered by describing their country’s recent enactment of robust and progressive programmes on both fronts, as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women took up Italy’s sixth periodic report.

Despite heavy financial constraints, a largely illiterate population and long-standing customary practices that subordinated women to men, Zambia had achieved a number of legislative milestones this year — the anti-gender-based violence act and the education act among them — and the Government was determined to continue improving women’s standing in a diverse society, officials told the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today.

Costa Rica’s adoption of a gender-equality policy and the election of its first female President in 2010 were landmark events that would allow women more economic autonomy, political participation and social protection, all of which were essential to overcoming entrenched discriminatory barriers, the country’s delegation said today while presenting its combined fifth and sixth periodic reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

With the changing political landscape in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond as a backdrop, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had a vital role to play in redressing entrenched ills, including harmful traditional practices, sexual violence, persistent discrimination and a lack of access to education and employment, top United Nations human rights official Ivan Simonović said today as he opened the treaty body’s forty-ninth session.

BRUSSELS, 29 June — As it closed in Brussels this afternoon, the United Nations International Meeting in Support of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process issued a call to the European Union and its Member States to support recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations during the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly.

BRUSSELS, 28 June — The viability of the two-State solution, the importance of the Arab Peace Initiative and the effectiveness of the Quartet’s Road Map in bringing about a just and lasting settlement of the Middle East conflict — along with Europe’s role in reaching that goal — were examined this afternoon as the United Nations International Meeting in Support of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process held its first plenary session in Brussels.

BRUSSELS, 28 June — Given the frozen state of Middle East peace negotiations at the present critical time, the international community must do its part to bring the parties back to the table, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message to the United Nations International Meeting in Support of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process, which opened this morning in Brussels.

The Special Committee on Decolonization concluded its 2011 substantive session today with the passage of a draft resolution on the Question of Tokelau, which would have the General Assembly acknowledge the Territory’s decision that consideration of any future act of self-determination would be deferred and that Tokelau and New Zealand would renew efforts to ensuring that essential services and infrastructure in the Pacific Territory’s three atolls was enhanced.

Noting the importance of positive measures being pursued in New Caledonia by the French authorities to promote political, economic and social development, the Special Committee on Decolonization today invited all parties to continue advocating a framework for an act of self-determination in which all options were open and which would safeguard the rights of all sectors of the Territory’s population, in line with the 1998 Nouméa Accord.

BRUSSELS, 23 June (Division for Palestinian Rights) — The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations International Meeting in Support of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process, on 28 and 29 June 2011 in Brussels, Belgium. The theme of the Meeting is “The role of Europe in advancing Palestinian statehood and achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians”.