Meetings Coverage

The Committee on Non‑Governmental Organizations today suspended its 2018 resumed session pending one final day of work next month when its report to the Economic and Social Council will be finalized for adoption.

On the heels of largely successful democratic elections — viewed by many around the world as a historic turning point — Iraq still faced such challenges as continued terrorist threats and sectarian divisions, which must remain a priority on the international agenda, stressed the senior United Nations official in the country as he briefed the Security Council today.

Events unfolding in and around Gaza marked the most serious escalation of violence since the 2014 conflict between Hamas and Israel, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today, as he called for intensified pressure on Israelis and Palestinians to advance a just and sustainable peace.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations recommended 6 entities for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council today, the sixth day of its resumed session, while deferring action on 73 others.

The 2 million people in northern rural Homs, Douma and southern Damascus were among the most desperate in Syria, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs told the Security Council today, adding that only six inter‑agency aid convoys had reached those areas this year.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine was not only alive — with 1.6 million people displaced and escalating violence — but it embodied a broader threat to the global rules‑based order, with tens of thousands ceasefire violations recorded in 2018, the Security Council heard today, as it considered the situation for the first time in 15 months.

Several gaps in the revised budget proposal for the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals could negatively impact mandate delivery, delegates warned today, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) examined the Mechanism’s financing requirements for the next two years.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations recommended 35 entities for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council today, the fifth day of its resumed session, while deferring action on the status of 46 others.

While deferring action on 41 organizations, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended 16 entities for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, as it continued its 2018 resumed session.

The Security Council today adopted a resolution condemning the starving of civilians as a method of warfare — as well as the unlawful denial of humanitarian access to civilian populations — with members welcoming it as a landmark expression of unity on those critical issues.