Meetings Coverage

Despite many unsettling developments in the Middle East, it was important not to lose sight of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the occupation which had scarred the lives of far too many for far too long, the Security Council heard today.

Concluding its week-long session today, the Fifth Biennial Meeting of States on small arms and light weapons adopted by consensus an outcome document that highlighted the international community’s renewed commitment to preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit trade.

Representatives of international, regional and non-governmental groups discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the United Nations small arms action plan, with many urging States to fully implement the 2001 instrument and others cautioning against infringing legitimate business and personal rights, as the Fifth Biennial Meeting of States continued its session today.

The recent deterioration of the political and security situation in the Sahel region was a cause for alarm, the senior official there told the Security Council today, emphasizing that implementation of the United Nations Integrated Strategy would require sustained political will on the part of neighbouring Governments, and profound transformations on all political, economic and social platforms.

International cooperation and assistance in capacity-building and technology transfer were key to the implementation of the United Nations Programme of Action to counter the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, delegates concurred as the fifth Biennial Meeting of States moved into day three of its session.

The General Assembly’s six Main Committees elected their Bureaux for the sixty-ninth session today, with the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) holding a secret ballot requested by the Group of Arab States over Israel’s nomination as Vice-Chair.

Amid deteriorating security and increased violence in the northern town of Kidal, the ceasefire agreement between Mali’s Government and warring armed forces was an “important step in the right direction” to ending the West African country’s protracted crisis, the head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council this morning.

Systematic and wide-spread crimes continued to be committed with total impunity in Darfur nearly 10 years since the situation there was referred to the International Criminal Court, Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the Security Council today.

The Security Council today unanimously adopted two resolutions addressing threats to international peace and security, the first on the Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee and the second relating to the Taliban sanctions regime.