Meetings Coverage

States parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea concluded their nineteenth meeting this evening by approving salary increases for judges of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and a new arrangement for allocating seats on the Tribunal and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, but failed to reach a decision on how best to cope with the Commission’s workload.

With the world facing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Government leaders and senior ministers meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York today agreed on a sweeping action plan to help blunt the impact of the economic downturn, especially for developing counties, but “in the interest of all nations [...] to achieve more inclusive, equitable, balanced, development-oriented and sustainable economic development to help overcome poverty and inequality”.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) until 31 December and requested the Secretary-General to establish a United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) to succeed it for an initial period of 12 months after that.

As it wrestled to design a response to the multidimensional and unprecedented global economic downturn, a panel of United Nations and financial experts from several intergovernmental organizations stressed today that, in order to be successful, the world community would have to employ a multifaceted approach addressing employment, trade, investment and development.

Decrying a world economic order that had rewarded the powerful, marginalized the poor and promoted an unbridled capitalism that ignited unprecedented financial contagion, General Assembly delegates today urged swift and concerted measures to restructure international finance bodies and forge people-centred policies that addressed human security.

As the States parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea continued their annual session today, delegates noted progress made in their consultations on budgetary matters, the allocation of judges’ seats on the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, and reducing the Commission’s workload, but said they needed more time to reach agreement on those outstanding contentious issues.

Following several weeks of intense consultations, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this afternoon recommended to the General Assembly a peacekeeping budget approaching $7.8 billion for the period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010.

Calling for vigorous international cooperation to blunt the fallout from the global financial crisis, a panel of senior United Nations officials and Government experts today highlighted strategies –- ranging from a temporary moratorium on debt repayment to increased South-South trade and targeted policymaking -– that could help developing countries strengthen their economies, bolster their financial systems and protect their most vulnerable citizens during the economic downturn.

Vowing to marshal all the resources of the United Nations to monitor the impact of the current financial crisis and chart a path towards recovery, especially for hard hit poor countries, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for international solidarity to reform outdated global rules and institutions, and a renewed multilateralism to help all countries weather the economic downturn.

As they continued their annual session today, States parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea heard a briefing by the President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on that body’s financial reports for the 2007-2008 period and recent proposed changes on the remuneration of its judges.