Meetings Coverage

The Security Council today set the date for an election to fill a vacancy on the International Court of Justice resulting from the resignation of Judge Shi Jiuyong.

Gathered at Headquarters in New York for their annual meeting with the Economic and Social Council, top officials from the major international financial institutions today highlighted the new possibilities provided by the financial and economic crisis to intensify support for developing countries and mobilize action and resources within the United Nations-backed Financing for Development process to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Briefing the Security Council this morning, the head of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire expressed dismay over the current political impasse in that West African country and its ramifications for the electoral process.

The United Nations expert panel monitoring worldwide implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights today continued the work of its ninety-eighth session with a read-through of its draft “general comment” on article 19 of the treaty, which deals with “the right to freedom of opinion and expression”.

The Palestinian Authority had embraced proximity talks to revive Middle East peace negotiations, but they had been spurned by Israel through the announcement of additional building plans in East Jerusalem and other provocations, the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine told the Palestinian Rights Committee this afternoon.

Concerned at Africa’s low share of international trade, rising unemployment and slowed capital inflows in the wake of the world financial crisis, General Assembly delegates today adopted a consensus text urging continued support of measures to address poverty eradication, debt relief, improved market access and support for the private sector, within the context of the African Union’s cornerstone policy framework for increasing economic integration among nations.

While praising New Zealand’s self-critical attitude and constructive engagement with protecting the fundamental rights of its citizens, experts on the Human Rights Committee today raised concerns about possible breaches of the rights of the Maori people and expressed alarm that the country’s age for criminal responsibility was 10, as they wrapped up their two-day consideration of the country’s fifth periodic report on compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

While affirming his country’s “unique but robust constitutional structure”, which afforded opportunities for engagement with human rights protections across all Government institutions and among all citizens, the Minister of Justice of New Zealand, addressing a panel of United Nations rights experts today, nevertheless acknowledged several issues of ongoing concern, including the use of “tasers”, the private management of prisons and the disproportionate number of Maori in the country’s prisons.

The United Nations Disarmament Commission, ahead of its 2010 substantive session slated for 29 March to 16 April, today elected Jean-Francis Régis Zinsou (Benin) as Chair, who urged that members “look at the future with a positive spirit”.

The Security Council this morning decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad for two months, as discussions on its future continued with the Chadian Government.