Against the backdrop of an increasingly “grim” and “complex” global security landscape, special political missions — with their rapid, nimble and tailored approaches — were a key part of the United Nations peace operations toolbox, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it took up the matter in a half-day debate.

Determined to achieve the effective prohibition of the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and their destruction, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today approved a draft resolution on the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention that would reaffirm the obligation of States parties to destroy their stockpiles.

The Secretary-General is alarmed by the ongoing escalation of violence in Burundi.  He underlined the responsibility of authorities to protect the civilian population, regardless of political affiliation, and to ensure that the widespread impunity for heinous acts is brought to an immediate end.

The International Criminal Court should be properly funded, particularly when it came to cases referred to it by the Security Council, the General Assembly heard today, as it concluded its debate on the Court’s report.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today recommended personnel appointments to fill upcoming vacancies in the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) and two other bodies that help the 193 delegates manage the United Nations vast human resources and its finances.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message to the Warsaw Dialogue for Democracy, held in Warsaw from 22 to 24 October:

Following is UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s lecture, “A Conversation on the United Nations in the New Global Landscape”, as prepared for delivery, at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, in Washington, D.C., today:

Speakers expressed unanimous satisfaction with the quality, independence, transparency and efficiency of the work of the International Court of Justice, and greater nuance in their responses to the International Criminal Court as the General Assembly took up the reports of those two bodies today.

Divergent opinions on the protection of civilians — including whether and when force could be used in defence of that mandate — emerged today as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its annual debate on United Nations peacekeeping operations.