Meetings Coverage

The Security Council this morning this morning extended the authorization of the European Union operation in the Central African Republic until 15 March 2015.

Forensic science played a key role regarding the obligation of States to investigate and prosecute allegations of torture or other ill-treatment, a special rapporteur said today, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) began its discussion on human rights.

An unimplemented Nuclear-Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was nothing but a “place-holder” for disarmament that told States to “insert effective measures for nuclear disarmament here”, heard members of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today during a thematic debate on nuclear weapons.

The $5.4 billion in pledges from some 50 countries at a recent donor conference for Gaza’s reconstruction must quickly materialize into assistance on the ground, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council today.

Faced with new challenges in protecting diplomatic and consular missions and representatives, speakers today called upon Member States to ensure compliance with the Vienna Conventions, as the Sixth Committee (Legal) today considered effective measures to enhance the protection, security and safety of those entities.

Preparations for the Third Conference on Financing for Development had proceeded in a “positive spirit”, the representative of Ethiopia today told delegates in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) during discussions on Financing for Development and the international financial system and development.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today approved the United Nations priorities for biennium 2016-2017 and began its examination of conference services, including the late issuance of documents and the status of equal treatment of the six official languages.

Unrealistic calls for disarmament distracted from — and ignored — more achievable and sober efforts, a speaker told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today, urging members to acknowledge the “hard truth” that the final goal would not be realized overnight or in a single negotiation.

Marking the 150^th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, speakers in today’s Sixth Committee (Legal) debate urged Member States to ratify the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts, with the aim of strengthening international humanitarian law.

With the Millennium Development Goals failing aboriginal peoples of the world, their knowledge and traditional practices must help to guide the post-2015 development agenda towards mapping a more inclusive, sustainable future, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today, as it began its general discussion on their rights, a month after the historic first World Conference on Indigenous Peoples.