Meetings Coverage

With a text of the President’s Draft Final Declaration circulating, the Chairman of the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty established the parameters for a closed negotiating plenary session to review that document section-by-section during a brief plenary meeting this morning.

Amid reports that three quarters of the world’s fish stocks were in distress and nearing depletion while marine ecosystems continued to deteriorate, the Conference tasked with reviewing implementation of the landmark 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement today focused on boosting compliance with regional fisheries management organizations, assessing flag State performance, controlling illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and adopting port State measures.

The Security Council decided today to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) until 31 December 2010, and called upon the Secretary-General to complete the withdrawal of all components of the Mission by that date.

The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina told the Security Council today that the country had made great strides in international relations in the 18 years since its admission to the United Nations, but internal divisions had stalled domestic reforms.

Despite efforts to improve the governance of high seas fisheries, global fish stocks continued to decline, with the majority of those covered by the landmark 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement either fully exploited or overexploited, delegates attending the 2010 Review Conference of that legally binding instrument stressed today, as they opened debate on key issues related to the sustainable management of fisheries and protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems.

The Economic and Social Council today considered its programme of work for its 2010 substantive session, running at New York Headquarters from 28 June to 23 July.

Announcing that differences still remained within the three Main Committees of the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Chairman said this afternoon that one more day would be needed to forge agreement on the separate areas of the Treaty, before the plenary could meet to produce a single consensus outcome document by the event’s conclusion on 28 May.

Meeting for a second day on the concept of human security, the General Assembly today heard appeals for clarity on a notion that, to some, remained too abstract and imprecise for international application, but to others was forward-thinking, synergistic and adaptable to the work of the United Nations. The Assembly’s discussion this morning centred on the Secretary-General’s report on human security (document A/64/701).

Citing the rise of borderless threats – pandemics, natural disasters and financial turmoil - and the ways in which such ills impacted the daily lives of millions of people worldwide, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon today backed the concept of “human security”, and urged Member States to consider the survival, livelihood and dignity of individuals as the fundamental basis for their security.

Approaching full deployment, and with the peace process progressing slowly, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) was now focused on carrying out its protection mandate despite the challenges, Ibrahim Gambari, Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative, told the Security Council today.