General Assembly

ISTANBUL, Turkey, 27 May — With tensions high in Jerusalem, and public criticism growing worldwide over the lack of action to alleviate the desperate situation of Palestinians clinging to survival there, experts, students and representatives of non-governmental organizations attending a United Nations Forum called today for an end to Israel’s repressive policies in that city, urging fellow members of civil society to mobilize a coordinated, rights-based response.

A United Nations meeting in support of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process stressed the importance of the two-year State-building plan put forward by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, aimed at developing institutions and strengthening the foundation for the future State of Palestine, and considered that the entire international community should be ready to recognize the new State once statehood had been declared by the Palestinian Authority at the appropriate time.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reiterated his support for the revived Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks, saying it was necessary that they lead quickly to direct peace negotiations so that progress could be made on core issues such as the status of Jerusalem, which was vital to both parties, and "should emerge from the negotiations as the capital of Israel and Palestine, with arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all".

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 in Istanbul, Turkey, at the Sheraton Hotel Istanbul Ataköy, from 25 to 26 May.

“Our task this morning is simple — to look at the way forward,” Donatus St. Aimee (Saint Lucia), Chairman of the Special Committee on Decolonization, said today as that body began the final session of its Pacific Regional Seminar on Implementation of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.

The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization continued its deliberations today at its Pacific Seminar on the Implementation of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, discussing challenges in the Pacific, Caribbean and elsewhere, as well as the broader role of the United Nations in the decolonization process.

The first Preparatory Committee in the run-up to the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as “Rio + 20”, had decided at its conclusion last night to hold intersessional consultations, since the eight days originally allocated for preparatory meetings would not be enough, Committee Co-Chair John Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda) said at Headquarters today.

The first in a series of preparatory sessions leading to a follow-up in 2012 to the historic Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit of 1992 concluded today, following three days in which delegations strove to rekindle the spirit of Rio and shore up the foundation on which sustainable development had gained traction around the world.

In a message to open the Pacific Regional Seminar on the Implementation of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all involved to undertake “fresh and creative efforts” towards full implementation of decolonization.

Countries will open negotiations today on the road back to Rio, where, in 1992, countries agreed on the landmark Agenda 21, the blueprint for sustainable development. In 2012, countries will meet again in Rio de Janeiro to determine the next steps for achieving sustainable development — to manage and protect the ecosystem and bring about a more prosperous future for everyone.