Despite numerous strategies to improve security, governance and development, the situation in the Sahel remained fragile, speakers in a joint meeting of the Economic and Social Council and Peacebuilding Commission agreed today, amid calls for Governments and international partners to improve coherence on the ground by matching short-term objectives with a longer term vision for the region.
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Meetings Coverage
The Conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons considered a new version of the draft convention today, following the read-through of the earlier version last week, when delegations made proposals and suggestions.
The international community must build on several significant new developments in the Syria negotiation process, including a round of technical meetings attended by representatives of three opposition groups, the senior United Nations official in that country said today.
While Liberia had made remarkable strides since signing the Accra Peace Agreement in 2003, current challenges posed a risk of reversing that positive trend, the head of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) told the Security Council today.
Amid affirmations of solidarity, the Special Committee on Decolonization approved a draft resolution today reiterating that a peaceful and negotiated settlement of the sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom was the only way to end the “special and particular” colonial situation of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).
Briefly resuming its discussion before moving into informal consultations today, the Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading Towards their Total Elimination took note of a revised indicative timetable for the week of 26‑30 June (document A/CONF.229/2017/3/Add.2).
The General Assembly requested today that the International Court of Justice render an advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius before that Indian Ocean island nation’s independence in the 1960s.
The Special Committee on Decolonization sent nine draft resolutions to the General Assembly today, including on the Question of French Polynesia, garnering calls from petitioners who attested on one hand to the island’s improved economic recovery, and on the other to a financially abusive relationship with the administering Power.
The Security Council today extended its arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban on the Democratic Republic of the Congo until 1 July 2018, expanding those sanctions to cover individuals and entities engaging in or providing support for acts that included planning, directing, sponsoring or participating in attacks against the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) peacekeepers or United Nations personnel, including members of the Group of Experts.
The Security Council welcomed the deployment of the Group of Five Sahel joint force (Force conjointe du G5 Sahel - FC-G5S) that would address the threat of terrorism, as well as the serious challenges posed by transnational organized crime in the region.