GA meet to Strengthen its Coordination of Humanitarian & Disaster Relief

Today the General Assembly will meet for its 54th Plenary Meeting, 67th Session. The focus will be on reviewing numerous Reports and Draft Resolutions associated with: the Strengthening of Coordination of Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Assistance of the United Nations, including special Economic Assistance.

          General Assembly Meeting

The Report of the Secretary-General (A/67/492) will be reviewed, this addresses the ‘Safety and Security of Humanitarian Personnel and the Protection of United Nations Personnel’.

The Drafts Resolutions ‘Harmony and Nature’ (A/67/L.37), revised by Bolivia, and Draft Resolution ‘Human Rights and Extreme Poverty’, revised by 21 member states, will also be discussed.

Other topical issues up for Review:

(a) Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations

(b) Assistance to the Palestinian people

(c) Special economic assistance to individual countries or regions

The humanitarian impact of Israeli settlement policies.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the occupied Palestinian territory has issued the recent factsheet on the impact of Israeli settlement policies.

Available Fulltext. PDF, the fact sheet provides most recent information on the humanitarian impact of Israeli settlement policies.

Official documents:

Resolutions

Reports

Current humanitarian information

Source: unocha.org

Peaceful Settlement and the Question of Palestine - Report of the Secretary General

The present report is submitted in accordance with General Assembly resolution 66/17 and covers the time period from September 2011 to August 2012. It contains replies received from the parties concerned to the notes verbales sent by the Secretary-General pursuant to the request contained in paragraph 25 of the resolution. The report also contains the observations of the Secretary General on the current state of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and on international efforts to move the peace process forward with a view to achieving a peaceful settlement.

           Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon greets Mahmoud Abbas

The Report’s closing statement, from Ban Ki-Moon, reads as follows:

“As Secretary-General, I will continue to ensure that the United Nations works towards the establishment of an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace with a secure Israel in the framework of a comprehensive regional settlement consistent with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003) and 1860 (2009), and in accordance with the Quartet road map, the Arab Peace Initiative and the principle of land for peace”.

UN RESOURCES:

General Assembly grants Palestine non-member observer State status at UN

                               President of the Security Council photo

On Thursday the 29th November, the United Nations General Assembly voted draft resolution A/67/L.28  to recognize a Palestinian state as a nonmember observer state.

The resolution supporting the Palestinians’ status to a nonmember observer state at the United Nations was approved by a more than two-thirds by a vote of 138-9, with 41 abstentions.

Background information:

At the beginning of the 66th Session the Palestinian authority submitted an application for admission as a Member of the United Nations:

  • Letter of Application for admission by Palestine (A/66/371-S/2011/592)
  • Text of speech of Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority in the General Assembly
  • Text of speech of Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel
  • Middle East Quartet Statement taking note of Palestine’s application.
  • The Report of the Committee on the Admission of New Members concerning the application of Palestine for admission to membership in the United Nations  (S/2011/705).

The question of Palestine is one of the oldest issues discussed within the United Nations. In 1947, the General Assembly resolution 181 (II) recommended the partition of the British Mandate between two states. Palestine’s status has evolved over the years through several General Assembly resolutions:

  • 1974: resolution 3237 (XXIX) granting Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.
  • 1988: following the Proclamation of the State of Palestine, the General Assembly adopted two resolutions : resolutions 43/160 granting PLO the right to circulate communications without intermediaries and resolution 43/177 changing the designation of PLO to Palestine. 
  •  1998: resolution 52/250 granting Palestine additional rights, such as the right to participate in the General Debate.

UN documents and information

Non-UN resources

General Assembly - Question of Palestine

The General Assembly are convened and currently voting NOW (Nov 29 4pm).

To watch the action as it happens go to the UN Live Web Casts NOW

67th Session 

The General Assembly will meet today on agenda 37 concerning the Question of Palestine. One of the draft resolutions that will be tabled is A/67/L.28 on the Status of Palestine in the United Nations. The draft resolution expresses the following with regard to the status of Palestine:

2. Decides to accord to Palestine non-member observer State status in the United Nations, without prejudice to the acquired rights, privileges and role of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the United Nations as the representative of the Palestinian people, in accordance with the relevant resolutions and practice;

3. Expresses the hope that the Security Council will consider favourably the application submitted on 23 September 2011 by the State of Palestine for admission to full membership in the United Nations

66th session

At the beginning of the 66th Session the Palestinian authority submitted an application for admission as a Member of the United Nations:

  • Letter of Application for admission by Palestine (A/66/371-S/2011/592)
  • Text of speech of Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority in the General Assembly
  • Text of speech of Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel
  • Middle East Quartet Statement taking note of Palestine’s application.
  • The Report of the Committee on the Admission of New Members concerning the application of Palestine for admission to membership in the United Nations  (S/2011/705).

The question of Palestine is one of the oldest issues discussed within the United Nations. In 1947, the General Assembly resolution 181 (II) recommended the partition of the British Mandate between two states. Palestine’s status has evolved over the years through several General Assembly resolutions:

  • 1974: resolution 3237 (XXIX) granting Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.
  • 1988: following the Proclamation of the State of Palestine, the General Assembly adopted two resolutions : resolutions 43/160 granting PLO the right to circulate communications without intermediaries and resolution 43/177 changing the designation of PLO to Palestine. 
  •  1998: resolution 52/250 granting Palestine additional rights, such as the right to participate in the General Debate.

UN documents and information

Non-UN resources

Lebanon: Labour Force Survey among Palestinian Refugees Living in Camps and Gatherings in Lebanon, 2011

This Labour Force Survey, conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and European Union, tells how Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon continue to find jobs despite legal and administrative hurdles, but face exploitative working conditions.

                              Palestinian Working Refugee

Palestinians are paid 20 per cent less than Lebanese workers for performing the same work. Their average monthly income is below the Lebanese minimum wage of 675,000 LBP (US$ 450).

As most of Palestinians are poorly educated and lacking skills, they eke out a living as casual workers in low-paid jobs in commerce and construction.

Few of these workers have a proper employment contract and next to none have access to health coverage, paid and sick leave. Very few are entitled to a pension or end-of-service indemnity.

The situation is particularly difficult for Palestinian working women. They tend to be better educated than their male counterparts, but are still underrepresented in the workforce and receive lower salaries.

Up to 280,000 Palestinian refugees live in 12 camps and 42 gatherings across Lebanon.

Legal amendments had no impact.

Related UN Resources:

United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) HomePage

UNHCR and ILO Workshop on “Refugees and labour mobility” 2012

Policy Development and Evaluation of UNHCR - durable solutions for refugees

Security Council- Situation in the Middle East-Question of Palestine

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

The Security Council met  in private at its 6863rd meeting, held in private on 14 November 2012, the Security Council considered the item entitled, the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. The Letter dated 14 November 2012 from the Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/2012/840) was discussed.  

The President drew attention to a letter dated 14 November 2012 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations (S/2012/841), in which he requested to be invited to participate in the meeting, in accordance with the Council’s previous practice. At the close of the meeting, a  Communiqué was issued by the Secretary-General in accordance with rule 55 of the provisional rules of procedure of the Council.

General Assembly Nov 29th, 2011

The 66th session UN General Assembly(GA) will meet today at its 100th plenary meeting to discuss the Question of Palestine. The GA will dicusss the letter from the Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable  Rights of the Palestinian People (A/66/742).

The Security Council met on February 28 2012, to discuss the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, On, 29 November 2011,  the UN General Assembly held a meeting on the Question of Palestine. On 29 November 1947, the General Assembly, by resolution 181 (II), the Partition Resolution, provided the establishment in Palestine of a “Jewish State” and an “Arab State,” with Jerusalem as a corpus separatum under a special international regime.  Of the two States to be created under this resolution, only one, Israel, has so far come into being. At that  meeting, the Report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (A/66/35), as well as the report of the Secretary-General (A/66/367–S/2011/585) was discussed.

Question on Palestine General Assembly Documents 

Related Posts 

- High Level meeting on the Middle East Situation

- Security Council -Middle East Situation

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UN Resources

Non-UN Resources

Photo:  Palestine Refugees. 1 January 1970. UN Photo/DB.ab

4th June is International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

 The General Assembly at its emergency special session on the question of Palestine, “appalled at the great number of innocent Palestinian and Lebanese children victims of Israel’s acts of aggression”, decided to commemorate 4 June of each year commemorated pursuant to GA resolution A/RES/ES-7/8.

The purpose of the day is to acknowledge the pain suffered by children throughout the world who are the victims of physical, mental and emotional abuse. This day affirms the UN’s commitment to protect the rights of children.

UN  Resources:

Related Blogs:

Photo:Two young residents from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Acqba Jaber camp for Palestinian refugees in the West Bank. Credit: UN Photo/Stephenie Hollyman

International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

By resolution 32/40 B, the General Assembly called for the annual observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29 November — the day that the Assembly adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine (resolution 181 (II)) in 1947. As part of its observance, by resolution 60/37, the Assembly requested the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Division for Palestinian Rights to organize an annual exhibit on Palestinian rights.  This year, the Committee, in cooperation with the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, will present a cultural exhibit entitled “A Palestinian Vista — Uprooted from our homeland… We rooted the homeland in ourselves” in the Public Lobby of the General Assembly Building in New York.  

Member States are encouraged to continue to give the widest support and publicity to the observance of the Day of Solidarity.

UN Resources

Photo:  Performance Marks International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. 29 November 2005. UN Photo/Mark Garten.  

UNESCO Votes to Admit Palestine As Member

Today, 31 October 2011, the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voted to admit Palestine as a Member State of the Organization.  The vote was carried by 107 votes in favour of admission and 14 against, with 52 abstentions.

Including Palestine’s entry, UNESCO will have 195 members. 

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