Meetings Coverage

The three bodies created to implement the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea — known as the “constitution for the oceans” — were increasingly being called upon to resolve disputes between States and to expand maritime jurisprudence, said delegates today as the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention began its twenty-third annual session.

The General Assembly today welcomed the Secretary-General’s report on expediting United Nations efforts to bring the global AIDS epidemic fully under control, deciding to include that question as an item on the agenda of its sixty-eighth session.

Meeting in resumed session today, the Special Committee on Decolonization approved three draft resolutions on various aspects of information relating to the Non-Self-Governing Territories under its purview.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations met briefly this morning to adopt, as orally revised, the report of its 2013 resumed session, held from 20 to 29 May, during which it recommended to the Economic and Social Council 161 such organizations for consultative status and deferred 219 for further consideration at its regular session in 2014.

The Security Council today welcomed the launch on 3 June of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, which, the Secretary-General says in his latest report, is a “fresh start” in United Nations engagement in that strife-torn nation, as it is based on a vision underpinned by current needs and opportunities and reinforces the scope for new partnerships and funding requirements.

Emphasizing the importance of credible, fact-based, independent assessments, analysis, and recommendations, the Security Council this morning extended until 9 July 2014 the mandate of the Panel of Experts appointed by the Secretary-General in 2010 to assist the Committee that monitors implementation of the sanctions regime on Iran.

It was long past time for the Security Council to act with “courage and conviction” by adopting measures to ensure that those responsible for grave atrocities in Darfur were brought to justice sooner rather than later, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the 15-member body today, as she presented her latest report on the conflict-ridden region in Sudan.

States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination elected nine members to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination today, replacing colleagues whose four-year terms are set to expire on 19 January 2014.

The first ever international treaty to regulate the trade of conventional weapons “opened a door of hope” to millions of people living in deprivation and fear because of the poorly controlled trade and the proliferation of those deadly weapons, the United Nations top official said today as the instrument opened for signature, with more than 60 delegates lining up to pen their names.

In a call to action, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues approved a draft decision today recommending that the Economic and Social Council rename it as the “Permanent Forum on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, at the close of a two-week session marked by a dynamic effort to preserve those peoples’ identity, ensure their rights and secure a fully fledged place on the global stage.