Meetings Coverage

The Security Council today adopted a resolution that puts stronger measures in place for women to participate in all phases of conflict prevention, resolution and recovery, placing the onus of providing them with seats at the peace table on Member States, regional organizations and the United Nations itself.

Failing to intervene and invest in children carried a high price for any society, delegates stressed, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) concluded a three day debate on the rights of children.

Information was power, and the United Nations Department of Public Information was rising to the formidable communications demands of a complex world, delegates in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) said today as they concluded their consideration of questions relating to information, with the approval of two draft resolutions.

Lack of adequate and reliable funding could threaten the future of the Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law, the Secretary of the Advisory Committee cautioned Sixth Committee delegates as deliberations on the subject began.

New media technologies were not just instruments of communication, but “channels of citizen participation”, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today, as it continued its consideration of questions relating to information, including in the context of how the United Nations Department of Public Information was measuring up to the challenges.

Although the “special responsibility” of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) to tackle the myriad challenges of disarmament and non-proliferation was not easy or quick, those efforts should not be allowed to “wither on the vine”, Genxin Li, Director of Legal and External Relations of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), said today as the Committee began its thematic debate on nuclear weapons.

It was time to place a value on unpaid work carried out by women, the head of UN-Women stressed today as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) considered poverty eradication.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today approved eight draft resolutions relating to crime prevention, criminal justice and international drug control, including a text aimed at curbing the trafficking of cultural property ‑ an emerging issue in the global struggle against transnational organized crime.

While acknowledging the overall financial health of the United Nations, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) voiced their worries today about the unpaid assessments that produce a cash flow shortage in the Organization’s regular budget each December.

In one round of voting, the General Assembly today elected Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for the next two years.