Meetings Coverage

Expressing outrage at the Syrian Government’s violent 11-month crackdown on opposition protesters, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights told the General Assembly today that credible reports of “serious violations” — including indiscriminate attacks on civilians, arbitrary detention and torture — pointed to possible crimes against humanity and required an immediate international response.

On the heels of his visit to the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that he would “spare no effort” in helping Israelis and Palestinians arrive at a new and better future, as he opened the 2012 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

The President of the Economic and Social Council today outlined the arrangements for the 54-member body’s annual Philanthropy event set to take place Monday, 27 February.

Concluding its fiftieth session today, the Commission for Social Development recommended seven draft resolutions for adoption by the Economic and Social Council, covering topics that ranged from the mainstreaming of disability into the international development agenda, to the priority theme for the next session.

In a brief meeting today, the Commission for Social Development considered a proposed programme of work for the Division for Social Policy and Development for the biennium 2014-2015, which was to be “more precise, transparent, and measurable” than in previous years.

Fragile calm had been restored in Kosovo following the 2011 clashes over crossing points and other issues, but real political progress demanded a thorough re-examination and better cohesion among all international efforts as the European Union stepped forward in a leadership role, a senior United Nations peacekeeping official told the Security Council today.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council to 10 applicants from a range of fields, including art education, the elderly and penal reform, and removed 20 applicants from its list of consideration, while approving name change requests from another dozen applicants.

Adopting its 2012 work programme today, the Economic and Social Council approved the organizational arrangements for its substantive session — to be held in New York from 2 to 27 July — setting the stage for discussions at Headquarters on a range of critical themes, from creating decent jobs to assessing the impact of the financial crisis and bolstering development cooperation.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today continued consideration of its lengthy list of groups seeking status with the Economic and Social Council, recommending 11 organizations for special consultative status, while postponing consideration of 19 others, pending receipt of additional information from a variety of applicants ranging from an emergency medical service unit to trustees of a major United States university.