Meetings Coverage

With the United Nations poised to spend $599 million on 27 special political missions in 2010, including two large missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, speakers in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today called for greater accuracy in budget projections, as well as greater clarity on the rationale used to decide the type, size and scope of each mission.

Israel, the Palestinians and a revitalized diplomatic Quartet must do more in concert to avert a backward slide in peace efforts, Robert Serry, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Security Council today.

The Security Council, while urging the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to take all possible measures to complete its work, today allowed one of its judges to serve beyond the expiry of his term of office so he could complete work on cases in which he was involved.

Progress in the coming year should allow the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) to hone its task of helping ensure the future stability of the vast central African country, Alan Doss, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, told the Security Council today.

Urging the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to take all possible measures to complete its work, the Security Council today allowed several judges to serve beyond the expiry of their term of office to enable them to complete work on cases in which they were involved.

The Security Council today renewed the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which has supervised the ceasefire between Israel and Syria since 1974, for the next six months until 30 June 2010.

Acting without a vote on the recommendations of its Sixth (Legal) Committee, the General Assembly this morning adopted 15 resolutions and two decisions on issues ranging from international terrorism to the rule of law, as it also adopted a text on assistance to the Palestinian people and continued its consideration of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

Wrapping up its resumed 2009 substantive session, the Economic and Social Council today filled outstanding vacancies on a number of its subsidiary bodies, and heard briefings by key United Nations officials dealing with food security issues, as well as detailed review by its President on coordinated follow-up in response to the world economic and financial crisis.

Despite raised hopes, the overall political, security and socio-economic situation in the Central African Republic remained “fragile and challenging”, the senior United Nations representative in that country told the Security Council today.

The outgoing members of the Security Council -– Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Libya and Viet Nam –- delivered briefings today on the work of subsidiary bodies they had chaired during their two-year tenure.