Fourth Committee Approves Draft Resolution Endorsing Recommendations of Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its work for the seventy-first session of the General Assembly today, approving a draft resolution on peacekeeping (document A/C.4/71/L.18).
By the terms of the draft resolution, approved without a vote, the General Assembly would endorse the recommendations of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and urge Member States, the Secretariat and relevant United Nations entities to take all necessary steps to ensure their implementation.
With a view to enhancing the capacity of the United Nations to fulfil its responsibilities, by other terms, the Assembly would decide that the Special Committee continue to review peacekeeping operations in all their aspects. It would also reiterate, by further terms, that Member States contributing to peacekeeping operations in the future, or which had participated in the Special Committee for three consecutive years as observers, would become members at its following session.
Prior to consideration of the text, Michael Grant (Canada), Vice-Chair of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, reported on that entity’s activities, saying that the Special Committee had held its substantive session from 21 February to 17 March, hearing from the Chef de Cabinet of the Secretary-General, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations and the Under-Secretary-General for Field Support.
Mr. Grant presented the report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations on its 2017 session (document A/71/19).
Hossein Maleki (Iran) proposed removing the “ambiguity” around operative paragraph 6 of the draft resolution text, saying it was unclear as to whether it referred to the Fourth Committee or to the Special Committee.
Vladimir Drobnjak (Croatia), Chair of the Fourth Committee, pointed out that the text was basically unchanged from that of previous years, adding that he would bring the issue up with the Committee’s next Chair and Bureau.
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* The 24th Meeting was covered in Press Release GA/11915 of 31 May 2017.