Following is UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Economic and Social Council, in New York today:
Delegates from several African countries called for greater regional cooperation in the peaceful resolution of the Western Sahara question today, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its general debate on decolonization.
While delegates stressed that Member States must ensure accountability for crimes committed by their nationals when deployed as United Nations officials and experts on mission, speakers remained divided on elaborating an international convention addressing the matter, as the Sixth Committee (Legal) took up the topic today.
As it continued its newly-opened 2018 session this afternoon, the Economic and Social Council completed the election of its bureau and took note of appointments to the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Major General Kristin Lund of Norway as the Head of Mission and Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO).
The Organization’s financial indicators for 2017 for peacekeeping operations and the tribunals remained generally sound and positive, although the regular budget cash was currently exhausted and reserves were at low levels, the United Nations senior management official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today.
Amid fears of a nuclear stand-off, several speakers addressing the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today drew attention to the danger of reaching a “point of no return”, and recommended ways to diffuse tensions.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today echoed the concern of the Secretary-General about the violence in south-west and north-west Cameroon. OHCHR calls on the Government of Cameroon to establish prompt, effective, impartial and independent investigations to ensure accountability.
VIENNA, 5 October — The 2017 International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East opened in Vienna today, with journalists, diplomats, academics and civil society representatives sharing views on the status of peace efforts, ways to end the occupation — now in its fiftieth year — and media narratives about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President François Delattre (France):
