Meetings Coverage

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning heard the budgetary reports of 13 United Nations peacekeeping missions, as well as proposals for the disposition of $230.7 million of unspent funds from 18 closed operations and deficits of $86.7 million from 5 others.

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the Security Council today that he planned to seek arrest warrants in the coming weeks against three Libyans who appeared to bear “the greatest criminal responsibility” for crimes against humanity committed during Colonel Muammar al-Qadhafi’s brutal, months-long crackdown against the anti-Government uprising in the North African country.

Even though the media landscape had been transformed “beyond recognition” in the 20 years since the Windhoek Declaration on freedom of expression, it remained critical to defend that fundamental right, top United Nations officials said today during an observance of World Press Freedom Day.

Libyan authorities and opposition forces were “ready and willing” to implement a ceasefire but on different terms, the Secretary-General’s Envoy to Libya told the Security Council today, with the Government insisting that a ceasefire must be accompanied by a halt to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) aerialattacks and the Transitional National Council asserting that any ceasefire would not end the conflict if not directly linked to the departure of Muammar Al-Qadhafi.

Recognizing the importance of cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, as well as its benefits to the world body, the General Assembly today adopted a set of modalities granting the delegation of the European Union the right to make interventions, as well as the right of reply and the ability to present oral proposals and amendments.

Speakers lauded last year’s launch of the global field support strategy and called for its further implementation as the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning considered cross-cutting administrative and budgetary aspects of financing United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Whether measured by greenhouse gas concentrations, deforestation rates or declining fish stocks, current unsustainable consumption and production patterns threatened to exceed the capacity of global ecosystems and the world community must accelerate efforts to pursue environmentally sound economic growth and “meet our commitments to future generations”, a top United Nations official told the Commission on Sustainable Development today, as it opened its nineteenth session.

Speakers affirmed the importance of adequately, efficiently and accountably funding United Nations peacekeeping operations as the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee opened the second part of its resumed session this morning.

Recalling the “heinous” terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, as well as the numerous attacks perpetrated by the Al-Qaida network around the world, the Security Council welcomed today the news that Osama bin Laden would never again be able to perpetrate such acts of terrorism.

HELSINKI, 29 April — With plans nearly complete for welcoming a sovereign, independent Palestinian State into the community of nations this September, the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People today urged the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators to “help make the sun set on the occupation permanently”, by rapidly finalizing the permanent status parameters so that direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations could proceed without delay.