Meetings Coverage

The implementation delays and cost overruns surrounding the Secretariat’s efforts to carry out a major enterprise resource planning (ERP) project meant to streamline the administrative practices and boost efficiency of the United Nations were in the spotlight at today’s meeting of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today approved a draft resolution that would have the General Assembly hold a high-level meeting in 2013 to assess progress in the global community’s fight against the grave challenge of human trafficking.

Upholding its tradition of consensus, the Sixth (Legal) Committee concluded its current session by approving one request for observer status by the European Organization for Nuclear Research and 11 draft resolutions, including the text on the revitalization of the General Assembly.

Urging Sudan and South Sudan to activate recently agreed border security mechanisms, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations security mission in the disputed area of Abyei until 31 May 2013.

Despite recognizing the need to make the Security Council more representative and fit to tackle complex global challenges, delegates remained divided on the future makeup of the 15-nation body, as the General Assembly today discussed the Council’s work and reforming its structure.

Fourth Committee concludes work with the approval of nine draft resolutions on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and Israeli practices, another on peacekeeping, and a draft decision on its work, forwarding a total of 28 texts to the General Assembly.

Determining whether migration was a positive or a negative phenomenon depended on how it was managed, Michelle Klein-Solomon, Permanent Observer of the International Organization for Migration, told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today as it a panel discussion on that subject.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today approved a draft resolution that would have the General Assembly condemn all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and call on States to fully implement the absolute, non-derogable prohibition of such abuse.

A total of 25 Member States pledged approximately $865 million today, during a Headquarters event in support of United Nations development activities for 2013.

With terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction continuing to pose a serious threat to international peace and security, close cooperation and coordination among partners were essential, the Chair of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001) said as the Security Council reviewed the work of its three anti-terrorism Committees.