Meetings Coverage

The Security Council must enhance its accountability and only consider issues under its specific mandate, the General Assembly heard today, as it took note of that organ’s 2017 annual report.

The more than $7 billion spent annually on United Nations peacekeeping operations must achieve its best possible value on the ground, speakers emphasized today, as the Security Council considered how best to improve mission performance and hold failures accountable.

Conference participants tackled a myriad of topic clusters and exchanged views on procedural mechanisms, monitoring, reporting and review modalities, along with the use of terms, as the intergovernmental conference drafting a legally binding treaty under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea governing marine biodiversity in ocean waters beyond national jurisdiction continued its consideration of environmental impact assessments today.

By violating the last de‑escalation zone in the Syria conflict, the Russian Federation and Iran are not demonstrating a commitment to protecting civilian lives, and it is absurd to think the world will pay for reconstruction as they pummel Idlib, the representative of the United States told the Security Council today.

Amid escalating violence and lack of participation by one party in Yemen’s recently relaunched peace talks, the international community must commit to supporting dialogue, protecting civilians and preventing the country’s further decline into chaos, the senior United Nations official tasked with shepherding the negotiations stressed today as he briefed the Security Council.

In its first‑ever meeting to address the links between corruption and conflict, the Security Council today considered ways to effectively disrupt the illicit siphoning of money by leaders and other practices that weaken State institutions, thereby making a country susceptible to conflict.

The intergovernmental conference drafting a legally binding treaty under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea governing marine biodiversity in ocean waters beyond national jurisdiction entered its second week at Headquarters today with speakers discussing turning their attention to how the instrument will address environmental impact assessments.

The General Assembly adopted three resolutions today, including one on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), which it passed by a recorded vote of 159 in favour to 2 against, (Dominican Republic, United States) with no abstentions.

Member States shared views today on area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, during the fourth day of the intergovernmental conference to draft a legally binding treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of high seas biological diversity.

The Syrian Government and its partners — currently poised at the brink of a massive military strike against the north‑west province of Idlib — must urgently rethink its strategy, the Security Council heard today, as delegates sounded the alarm about such repercussions as mass civilian casualties and the flood of up to 700,000 refugees into neighbouring countries, Europe and beyond.