A far-reaching debate on the best interests of Non-Self Governing Territories fostered contentious exchanges and strong opinions from a broad array of representatives and petitioners this afternoon, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) entered its second day of debate on decolonization issues.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Román Oyarzun Marchesi (Spain):
Despite some gains, the world had been locked in a “cycle of intense frustration” over the lack of progress on nuclear disarmament, as the “flawed step-by-step approach” was not enough to achieve the goal of the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today, as it continued its general debate.
The work of the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) must be aligned with the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, the Committee heard today as it conducted a discussion on its working methods after concluding its general debate.
Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the Climate Finance Ministerial Lunch at the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meetings, in Lima today:
The Secretary-General congratulated members of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for receiving the 2015 Nobel Prize for Peace. He also saluted the Tunisian people, saying that the recognition belonged to all those who had given birth to the Arab Spring and were striving to safeguard the sacrifices of so many.
The Security Council today extended for two months the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS), with some members expressing concern over provisions on the potential use of unarmed unmanned aerial systems, sanctions, and technical support establishing a hybrid court to prosecute the perpetrators of mass atrocity crimes in the world’s youngest nation.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today began examining the United Nations’ programme planning, a critical process in the Organization’s regular budget formulation, while approving a recommendation that five Member States in arrears on dues payment be allowed to vote in the General Assembly.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) concluded its general discussion on crime prevention, criminal justice and international drug control today with an invitation from the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Member States to “build a bridge” between the recently adopted 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals and the General Assembly’s Special Session on the world drug problem in 2016.
The Security Council this morning decided to authorize Member States for a period of one year to inspect vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya that they had reasonable grounds to suspect were being used for migrant smuggling or human trafficking from that country.
