Meetings Coverage

Adjusting to new dynamics that have altered the nature of conflict in Darfur, the Security Council today endorsed the Secretary-General’s revised strategic priorities for the joint African Union-United Nations presence in the restive western region of Sudan.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) until 31 March 2015.

Acting without a vote as it concluded the first part of its resumed sixty-eighth session this evening, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) approved eight draft texts relating to the Capital Master Plan, a new staff mobility framework and progress towards establishing an accountability system for the United Nations, among other things.

The General Assembly today affirmed its commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, underscoring the invalidity of the 16 March referendum held in autonomous Crimea.

Continuing attempts by trained, well-armed and deep-pocketed terrorist and militant groups to impose their will through violence in Anbar, Iraq's largest province, were threatening the country's stability and had stifled its legislative process, the senior United Nations official in Iraq told the Security Council today.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today examined the financial implications of a proposed draft resolution on strengthening the United Nations human rights treaty body system — a text that would have a far-reaching impact on how it operates.

The Peacebuilding Commission must better coordinate its work with key United Nations bodies, intergovernmental entities and donors in order to maximize its impact in post-conflict countries, delegates said today as the General Assembly reviewed the annual reports of the nine-year-old body and its principal financing mechanism, the Peacebuilding Fund.

As the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone readied for its final drawdown next week, top officials hailed the country as a “storehouse of lessons” on how to transform war into durable peace, as the Security Council issued a presidential statement on the peacebuilding initiative.

Noting the vulnerability of the Beirut headquarters of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia to attack in light of recent targeted explosions throughout Lebanon’s capital, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today welcomed the Secretary-General’s proposed measures to improve staff safety and security at the complex.