The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today heard United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon formally unveil an initial budget proposal of $5.404 billion for the 2014-2015 biennium that begins on 1 January. That figure was 2.9 per cent lower than the budget for the current biennium that was set forth last December, he said. Despite efforts to minimize the impact of reductions, it was unrealistic to think they would have no impact.

United Nations Peacekeeping missions today were set in increasingly demanding and often perilous contexts, with operational and policy challenges that could only be addressed through collective action with an “international character”, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it continued its comprehensive review of peacekeeping operations in all its aspects.

As they continued deliberations on the International Law Commission’s annual report, Sixth Committee (Legal) delegates tackled an array of issues on the newly drafted conclusions that addressed the interpretation of treaties, and raised questions regarding the Commission’s consideration of crimes against humanity.

A strong global partnership was needed to address development issues such as poverty eradication and the impacts of climate change, said the representative of Lao People’s Democratic Republic, speaking on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as the Second Committee (Financial and Economic) took up global partnerships today.

The General Assembly, voting nearly-unanimously, adopted its twenty-second consecutive resolution calling for an end to the United States’ decades-long economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly on the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2014-2015, in New York, 28 October:

While “slow and tortured” improvements had helped the Security Council gradually build greater transparency and efficiency, the 15-member body must urgently step up efforts to improve its working methods, including through the collective voluntary suspension of veto rights in cases involving mass atrocity crimes, speakers said today.

After seven years of hard work, the adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty signified “the first time in a generation” that nations from every corner of the world had shown what could be achieved with strong vision and a clear sense of purpose, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its thematic debate on conventional weapons.

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today again voiced their concerns about the methods, techniques and cutbacks the Secretariat had used to turn out a proposed $5.4 billion budget for the 2014-2015 budget cycle that begins with the new year. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had formally unveiled the upcoming budget outline at Monday’s Committee meeting.

The Security Council adopted today its annual report to the General Assembly for the period 1 August 2012 to 31 July 2013.