United Nations – Secretary General, Security Council, General Assembly  [to 23 May 2015]
http://www.un.org/en/unpress/

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Selected Press Releases/Meetings Coverage
22 May 2015
SC/11904
Security Council Press Statement on ISIL’s Violent Seizure of Palmyra, Syria

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22 May 2015
SC/11903
Security Council Press Statement on Terrorist Attack in Saudi Arabia

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22 May 2015
DC/3561
Consensus Eludes Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference as Positions Harden on Ways to Free Middle East of Mass Destruction Weapons
After weeks of intense debate, States parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) concluded the month-long 2015 Review Conference this evening, unable to reach consensus on an outcome text that would have delineated steps to speed progress on nuclear disarmament, advance non-proliferation and work towards a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

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22 May 2015
SC/11901
Security Council Urges Heightened Cooperation on Illicit Transfer of Small Arms, Light Weapons, Adopting Resolution 2220 (2015) with Abstentions
The Security Council this morning adopted a text urging stronger cooperation in stemming the “illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse” of small arms and light weapons, underlining the suffering they caused to civilians, although six members abstained, citing insufficient attention to keeping arms from all non-State actors.

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21 May 2015
GA/AB/4157
Concerns Aired over Ebola Response Operation’s Top-Heavy Staff Structure as Budget Committee Examines 2015 Funding Proposals for Office, Special Political Missions
Sixty-ninth Session, 40th Meeting (AM) General Assembly
Additional $88.1 million was needed to support the “last mile” of the international response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the United Nations Controller told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today as delegates reiterated concern about significant resources spent to support the operation’s high-level staff positions.

Presenting the Secretary-General’s revised budget estimates for biennium 2014-2015 for the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas, Assistant Secretary-General and Controller, said that $81.9 million of the additional requirement would be spent to provide field-level support to the affected countries, $2.7 million would go to the Office of the Special Envoy, and $3.5 million would fund 25 backstopping positions at Headquarters.

She explained that the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of UNMEER and his Special Envoy on Ebola — both at the Under-Secretary-General level — had separate responsibilities, noting that the former maintained a roving presence between the affected countries to ensure a regional perspective, as well as unity of purpose, among all responders, while the latter would focus on mobilizing the funds needed to ensure that the United Nations agencies, funds and programmes had sufficient resources to support vigilance against Ebola and bridge efforts to the recovery phase.

“The sustained support of Member States in this last mile of the response to finish the job is essential,” she said, stressing that the collective investments of the communities, Governments, and regional and international stakeholders were too large to allow for progress to be rolled back.

In its report, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) noted that it continued to remain unconvinced of the need for two Under-Secretary-General level positions. In particular, it questioned why the functions of the Head of UNMEER could not have been performed by an incumbent at the Assistant Secretary-General level under the strategic guidance of the Special Envoy, or why the functions of the three Ebola crisis managers heading the country offices could not be performed by incumbents at the D-2 level.

South Africa’s delegate, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, expressed disappointment over the Secretary-General’s proposal in favour of the top-heavy structure. The Group did not see the need for two positions at the Under-Secretary-General level for an operation in the drawdown stage, and the Mission’s Head could assume the functions of the Special Envoy.

Sierra Leone’s delegate said that as UNMEER prepared for its drawdown, he looked forward to a seamless transitional strategy. National sensitization and social mobilization campaigns should remain a high priority for United Nations specialized agencies in the subregion, and the Mission should consider further enhancing capacities for cross-border surveillance, collaboration and coordination.

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21 May 2015
SG/SM/16774-OBV/1468-WOM/2039
In Observance Message, Secretary-General Calls on World Leaders to End Scourge of Fistula ‘in Our Lifetime’

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21 May 2015
SG/SM/16772-SG/A/1570-IHA/1369
Secretary-General Appoints High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing