Meetings Coverage

“Piracy may be the first international crime,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the General Assembly today, as he called for a “change in strategy” to combat the resurgent scourge through broader global cooperation and a new push for stability in war-torn Somalia, off whose coast pirates had, in the past year alone, hijacked some 56 ships and taken hostage nearly 750 crew members.

The General Assembly today elected 14 States to serve on the Human Rights Council for three-year terms starting next month, after all of them ran unopposed, following nominations by the regional groups of the exact number required to fill the Council’s vacancies.

Encouraged by the decrease in arrears to both the United Nations regular budget and its peacekeeping account compared to last year, speakers in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning urged that States do even more to ensure that outstanding payments were paid on time and in full, and that the Secretariat reciprocate by making administrative processes more transparent and efficient.

On the second day of its high-level segment, the Commission on Sustainable Development held three interactive ministerial dialogues today, with the aim of helping the diverse and growing number of stakeholders in the global push to rebalance consumption and production patterns achieve coherence in the transport, chemicals, waste management and mining sectors.

Taking up the Secretary-General’s proposed $313.9 million budget for next year’s peacekeeping backstopping activities — known formally as the peacekeeping support account — speakers at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) said increases must be proportionate to need, and called for “utmost prudence” in determining its size.

Noting “widespread interest” among Member States in contributing to the work of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, particularly troop-contributing countries, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today approved a draft resolution that would have the Assembly endorse the main points of the Special Committee’s report from its 2010 session, which, among other things, addresses cooperation with troop-contributing countries.

The Security Council this morning decided to extend the current mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) for just two weeks, until 26 May, while options for a revised mandate are thoroughly considered.

The Security Council this morning renewed the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) until 15 September 2010, in line with a request from the Government of the Himalayan country, stressing that arrangements should immediately be made for withdrawal of the mission by that date.

With the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia making progress building its institutions and reaching out to armed groups, it was important to redouble efforts for stability in light of the remaining enormous challenges, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General told the Security Council this morning.

Only through collective dedication and adherence to the decisions taken by the Commission on Sustainable Development — which required commitments by Governments and all partners — could sustainable development be achieved, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today as the Commission held its high-level segment on obstacles and constraints to implementation of the agenda pertaining to themes of its current cycle. The high-level segment runs until Friday, 14 May.