Speakers stressed the importance of transparency, equal opportunities for vendors, and streamlined processes, among other things, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) examined the United Nations efforts to make its procurement activities more efficient.
“As women thrive, so will we all,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as he opened the fifty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women today, marking two decades of progress that he warned had been “unacceptably slow” in achieving gender equality since the historic adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995.
Describing a deep partnership between the United Nations and the European Union, speakers at the Security Council this morning called for strengthening the relationship further in a range of critical areas.
Despite gains made since the 1995 adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action for Women, a renewed commitment to eliminating inequality was vital to reaching sustainable development goals, senior Government and United Nations officials said as they opened today’s General Assembly thematic debate aimed at inspiring women’s advancement in the run-up to agreement on a post-2015 agenda.
Despite progress on the ground following the February ceasefire, the situation in Ukraine remained fragile and far from irreversible, the Security Council heard today from three senior United Nations officials, as members called for full implementation of the Minsk agreements.
As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) took up the topic of “accountability” in its review of the Organization’s efficiency in administrative and financial functioning, delegates welcomed continuing progress and pointed to gaps needing to be addressed.
Following the latest findings by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Security Council today condemned in the strongest terms any use of chlorine as a weapon in Syria, signalling it would take “Chapter VII” action if such arms were used again in the nearly four-year-old conflict.
The General Assembly today adopted a resolution encouraging relevant stakeholders to strengthen their efforts to promote peace, human rights, democracy, respect for religious and cultural diversity, and justice through education.
The Security Council, recognizing in the current circumstances the need for a short extension of the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), did so for a further two weeks, until 31 March.
The Economic and Social Council today filled outstanding vacancies on the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission and the Executive Board of the World Food Programme (WFP).
