The Disarmament Commission deferred the start of its 2020 organizational session meeting for 10 days today to enable the Committee on Relations with the Host Country to address the Russian Federation’s concerns over the non-issuance of delegates’ visas by the United States.
Opening its 2020 session, members of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization expressed concern about a rising tide of unilateralism, debated longstanding questions on the merits and legality of sanctions and weighed such novel topics as the role of conciliation in the Organization’s broader dispute resolution toolbox.
The coming months will be crucial to settling the conflict in eastern Ukraine through renewed political will, despite the average daily occurrence of more than 500 ceasefire violations and violent flare-ups, senior international officials told the Security Council today.
From income-linked caps on rents and homebuilding incentives to the power of sport to affect change, speakers today put forward a range of potential solutions to the complex and global challenge of homelessness, as the Commission for Social Development concluded the general debate of its fifty-eighth session.
Investing more in training is among the best ways to increase the capacity of United Nations peace operations, while these missions should not be asked to do more with less resources, speakers told the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations today at the first meeting of its 2020 substantive session.
Guinea-Bissau’s fragile post-election period requires strong, sustained support from all partners to prevent any backsliding of hard-won gains along the path to a peaceful transition of power, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General told the Security Council today.
The legacies of conflict, colonialism and a lopsided global financial system took centre stage as drivers of inequality — and in turn, homelessness — as the Commission for Social Development continued its general discussion today.
From Africa to the Americas to Asia and Europe, transitional justice mechanisms that are locally owned and focused on the needs of victims have repeatedly helped to address grievances and pave the way for more peaceful societies to take root, delegates said today amid calls for the Security Council to take decisive approaches to conflicts in concert with other United Nations bodies.
The Security Council reiterated its strong condemnation of all illegal recruitment and use of children by parties to armed conflict, as well as their re-recruitment, killing, rape and abduction, as the Secretary-General today launched a set of guidelines and the 15-member organ marked the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers.
The Security Council endorsed the conclusions of the 19 January Berlin Conference on Libya today, emphasizing the vital importance of progress towards a political solution to end the conflict in that country.
