Foreign News
General Assembly Approves $3.59bn UN Budget for 2024
The General Assembly has approved a US$3.59 billion budget for the United Nations for 2024, including the establishment for a special account to finance the Organisation’s peace-building fund.
The Office of the President of the General Assembly, in a statement on Sunday, stated that the budget was approved on Friday.
In actions taken on Friday, the 193-member General Assembly also adopted nearly US$50 million in additional funding for decisions taken by the Human Rights Council, UN’s primary forum on human rights matters.
It also decided to establish the Peace-building Account, a dedicated multi-year special account, as a modality to finance the Peace-building Fund.
Additionally, it approved US$50 million of assessed contributions per annum to fund the Account, starting 1 January 2025.The Peace-building Fund is the UN’s leading instrument to invest in prevention and peace-building efforts and support joint responses to address critical peace-building opportunities, connecting development, humanitarian, human rights and peace-building pillars.
Back in October, the Secretary-General had presented a US$3.3 billion budget proposal to the General Assembly, stressing to delegates at the Assembly’s main budget committee that “the role of the United Nations has never been more vital.”
In his presentation, the UN chief also voiced concern over the deteriorating liquidity situation of the Organisation, urging countries to ensure timely and full payments.
The Assembly further adopted a resolution that includes provisions to expand the coverage of UN official intergovernmental meetings in Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish languages.
The 20 positions, classified as general temporary assistance (GTA), includes editors, press officers and assistants working in the four languages.
Similarly, in a statement, the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, welcomed the Security Council’s unanimous adoption, on December 21, 2023, of Resolution 2719 (2023) on the financing of African Union-led Peace Support Operations.
“Since the start of his mandate, the Secretary-General has repeatedly called for a new generation of Peace Support Operations, led by African partners, with guaranteed funding, including through UN assessed contributions, to respond to the peace and security challenges on the continent.
“This is also one of the key recommendations of his recent policy brief on A New Agenda for Peace.
“This ground-breaking resolution by the Council will help address a long-standing and critical gap in the international peace and security architecture and bolster the international community’s efforts to tackle peace and security challenges on the continent.’’
According to the statement, the Secretary-General is committed to further strengthen the strategic partnership with the African Union, including through the implementation of this milestone resolution.
It stated that the United Nations would continue its collaborative efforts with the African Union towards political solutions to address conflicts on the continent and enhance AU-UN consultative decision-making process as outlined in the resolution.
Also on Friday, the General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning the killing of UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) staff and the destruction of buildings under the UN flag, amidst the ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip.
As of Saturday, 142 UNRWA staff members have been killed and 123 installations damaged. Other UN agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have also lost their personnel.
On Friday, Issam Al Mughrabi, a UNDP staff member alongside his wife, children and members of his extended family, were killed in an Israeli air strike.b(NAN)
Israel’s Army Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi has referred to October 7, 2023, as the day “when we failed in our mission to protect the citizens of the State of Israel.”
In a letter to Israeli soldiers marking the anniversary of the brutal attack on Israel, he wrote that “Oct.
7 is not only a day of remembrance, but also a call for deep introspection” and “a recognition of our failures and a commitment to learning from them. ”On October 7, 2023, terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and abducted about 250 more as hostages to the Gaza Strip.
This triggered the Gaza war, in which, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority, some 42,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, mostly civilians.
Halevi said that Hamas’ military wing had been defeated, but that the fight against the organisation’s terrorist structures would continue.
With regard to the fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, he said that the militia had been dealt a serious blow.
“We will not stop,” Halevi emphasised.
“We are destroying our enemies’ capabilities, and we will ensure that these capabilities are not rebuilt, so that Oct. 7 is never repeated,” he added. (dpa/NAN)
UN humanitarians on Monday condemned Russian attacks on Sumy city in the northeast of Ukraine over the weekend that damaged a hospital.
Matthias Schmale, the top UN aid official in Ukraine, said that the Russian military strikes killed and injured several people. He insisted that health centres must not be targeted.
Local officials reported that nine had been killed in the twin drone strikes on the northeastern city close to the Russian border, with 12 injured and more than 120 evacuated for their own safety.
Schmale’s comments came amid continuing violence on Monday, including a reported wave of drone attacks on Kyiv and protective air defence manoeuvres launched in response, according to the Ukraine military.
Outside the capital, media indicated explosions as Russia launched drone and guided bombs attack on Zaporizhzhia that damaged railways and buildings, while in Russia, Ukrainian armed forces reportedly shelled the Belgorod region.
Meanwhile, authorities in Algeria were on Monday urged by top independent human rights experts to reverse a prison sentence handed down to a poet for supporting widespread protests against the Government.
Djamila Bentouis received a two-year prison sentence and 100,000 Algerian dinars fine (worth around $750) for participating in the Hirak social protest movement via her songs and poetry recitals.
Initial charges levelled against Bentouis accused her of belonging to a terrorist entity.
The Hirak demonstrations began in February 2019 – initially against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika – but evolved into demands for political reforms and other freedoms.
The independent experts who include Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, said that the criminal charges against Ms. Bentouis appeared “directly linked” to her wish to exercise her right to freedom of expression.
The experts – who are not UN staff and receive no salary for their work – also expressed their hope that Algeria “will abide by its international obligations to guarantee the right to freedom of expression” when the appeals court considers the case on Wednesday. (NAN)
At least 20 people died after Hurricane Helene slammed into the south-eastern United States as a dangerous Category 4 storm, before later weakening to a tropical depression by Friday afternoon.The deaths were reported in US media across the states of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.
The governor of Georgia said at least 11 people had died in his state. Around 3 million people were without power across those states and beyond, with houses destroyed and entire communities flooded. There were fears that many people could still be trapped under collapsed and damaged buildings. Many roads across the region were not passable.The National Weather Service said Helene made landfall on the west coast of Florida as a Category 4 hurricane – the second highest category – but then began losing steam.The service had warned of “historic and catastrophic flooding,” and in some places on Friday the water was about 5 metres high. There were also threats of mudslides due to the extreme rain.Many victims were killed or injured by falling trees, while others died in their cars. In Florida, a woman drowned in her home, CNN reported.In North Carolina, authorities warned that a dam could break and urged nearby residents to move to safety.After pummelling the south-east, it began moving over the Appalachian mountains and affecting states like Tennessee and Virginia.Helene had already caused flooding and power outages in Cuba as it barrelled toward the U.S. (dpa /NAN)
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