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External sources (not reviewed)

The Republic of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that, despite ongoing political efforts towards the earliest resolution of the conflict on the basis of the generally accepted norms and principles of international law, the policy and practice of the Republic of Armenia, the occupying Power, implemented inter alia through various illegal activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, clearly testify to its intention to secure the annexation of these territories (see, for example, the most recent document circulated by Azerbaijan: A/64/760-S/2010/211).

In addition, the ICBL noted that many efficiency issues they have raised touch upon the role of the United Nations and, in this regard, expressed appreciation for a constructive dialogue that has started in recent months between non-governmental organisations and the UN.

On the basis of trade statistics, the Group in its final report of 2011 estimated that in 2010 almost 3 tons of fraudulently traded gold from the Democratic Republic of the Congo may have entered the legal supply chain of the United Arab Emirates through Uganda alone (see S/2011/738, para. 553).

It is indeed urgent that the Security Council respond to the various national and regional concerns and act to invoke article 16 of the Rome Statute in response to the decision of the African Union that was adopted at its most recent summit and the recent decision of the League of Arab States.

The Company may by ordinary resolution, before the issue of any new shares, determine that the same, or any of them, shall be offered in the first instance, and either at par or at a premium, to all the existing holders of any class of shares in proportion as nearly as may be to the number of shares of such class held by them respectively, or make any provisions as to the issue and allotment of such shares, but in default of any such determination or so far as the same shall not extend, such shares may be dealt with as if they formed part of the capital of the Company existing prior to the issue of the same.

To conclude, he observed that a recent assessment of his country’s policy to increase the minimum wage had shown encouraging results in terms of increasing productivity, boosting the purchasing power of workers and reducing inequality.

Legislation has been introduced to legalise measures to reduce, in the near future, air pollution, noise, radiation and vibration, and the effect of buildings raising the threat of disasters in densely populated areas.

Among the recommendations were that UNRWA must: impress upon donors that its core budget was not an administrative black hole but the key to running its educational programmes and thus should be seen as an investment in the future of the Palestine refugees; exploit all funding opportunities; enlarge its donor base for the core budget, to which only a small number currently contributed — a point to which he had drawn attention in Cairo at a meeting of Arab League ministers whose countries gave welcome support to specific projects and emergency appeals but not to the core budget; expand its partnerships with non-State actors such as foundations and other institutions in the private sector; and continue to be cost-effective in conducting its programmes through better planning, implementation and oversight.

These include: a deep-sea port being constructed on the Indian Ocean near the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe, and parallel road, high-speed rail, and oil and natural gas pipelines that will create an energy and trade corridor to China’s landlocked south west; the Kaladan multi-modal project that will create a transportation corridor between the Indian Ocean and India’s eastern seaboard and its landlocked north east; and the Dawei Development Project which, if completed according to plan, would include a large industrial estate and modern deep-sea port in the south, with road and rail links for transhipment of goods to Thailand and on to Vietnam, cutting several days off the sea route through the Straits of Malacca.

Referring to the recent painful events in Yemen, Algeria reaffirmed its support for the country’s security, stability and unity.

The Advisory Committee received the following clarification: in spite of the timing of its presentation, the proposal of the Secretary-General to establish an Emergency Preparedness and Support Unit was intended not to respond specifically to requirements related to the recent natural disaster in Haiti, but rather to put in place arrangements to deal with any crisis that has occurred or that may occur as the result of natural disasters, malicious acts directed at the United Nations or other emergencies.

It recognized that the Asia-Pacific region remained home to almost two thirds of the world’s poor and that there were visible disparities between rural and urban areas, between different social and ethnic groups, and between regions within countries.

Some of the elements of a vision for a lowcarbon transport system could include: (a) dense, but green, and mixed-use cities that provide jobs, and shopping and leisure facilities close to people’s residential areas; (b) modern, high-quality links between the centres and good integration of long-distance hubs with local transportation; (c) high-quality alternatives to individual car use, in particular efficient public transport and good non-motorized transport infrastructure and its proper integration; (d) efficient, intermodal freight transport and smart urban logistics that also include clean vehicles; and (e) advanced technologies such as hybrid engines, alternative fuels or even electric motorbikes and cars.

In order to offset the difficulty in filling resource gaps in cluster offices in the near future, and so as to ensure that staff skillsets are in line with the profiles, roles and task-sharing between Headquarters, regional bureaux, cluster/national offices and institutes referred to above, the overall long-term staffing strategy submitted to the Executive Board at this same session (Part IB of this document) has been elaborated taking into account inter alia the work of the Decentralization Review Task Force.

Colombia reported that the decree for regulating activities of NGOs and national standards was at an advanced stage of development.

Although each individual case would be tackled, the overall human rights situation was rather good thanks notably to freedom of expression guaranteed by a recently adopted legislation and to a properly proportioned and efficient judicial system.

The mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United Nations Development Programme welcomed the decision in the light of the recent weapons exports by Bosnia and Herzegovina to Armenia and Azerbaijan in breach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina commitments to the OSCE Principles Governing Conventional Arms Transfers, and in conflict with the European Union Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP.

The Company’s bye-laws deviate from Code Provision A.4.2 as it provides that one-third of the directors for the time being (save for the Chairman or Managing Director), or if their number is not three nor three nor a multiple of three, then the number nearest to one-third, shall retire from office and being eligible, offer themselves for re-election at the annual general meetings and that any new director appointed by the Board during the year shall hold office until the next following annual general meeting after appointment, and he/ she shall be eligible for re-election.

During the debates, participants discussed progress and ongoing challenges facing least developed countries in advancing their development agenda, in particular in the context of the recent global economic and financial crisis, food and fuel crisis, and the negative impact of climate change on least developed countries’ economies.

Valuation techniques include reference to most recent market prices used by knowledgeable and willingness parties, reference to current fair value of other financial instrument with similar nature, discounted cash flow method and option valuation models.

As part of an initiative within Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, a research programme of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) analysing linkages between climate variables and food security indicators, climate data from weather stations and remote sensing imagery are being assessed for Nepal, in the search for recent changes in climate patterns and how they may impact food security in the country.

Turning to the Secretary-General’s note on the financing arrangements for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for the period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 (A/64/728), he said that, in the light of the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010 in Haiti, the Security Council, in its resolution 1908 (2010), had endorsed the increase in the overall force levels of MINUSTAH to support the immediate recovery, reconstruction and stability efforts, and had decided that MINUSTAH would consist of a military component of up to 8,940 troops of all ranks and a police component of up to 3,711 police.

We believe that the reason such violations persist is due not to the incapacity of the almost fully integrated legal and humanitarian framework established by the United Nations and represented in international legal instruments on this issue — including the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and its two Additional Protocols of 1977 and the resolutions and presidential statements issued by the Security Council on the protection of civilians — but lies rather in the non-compliance of some states parties with their respective obligations under these instruments and the selective approach in their implementation in some areas of conflict.

A number of delegations supported the elaboration of a worldwide standard, noting that the production and trade of pomegranate extended beyond the Near East Region and that there would be significant market potential in view of growing interest in this commodity in many countries.

While acknowledging the response of the international community to these crises and challenges to date, such as the High-level Conference on World Food Security, held in Rome from 3 to 5 June 2008, and the recent Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy, held in Washington, D.C., on 15 November 2008, we are determined to take immediate and decisive actions and initiatives to overcome all these obstacles and challenges through achievement of people-centred development and to devise important measures for the full, effective and timely implementation of the Monterrey Consensus.

The Executive Committee expressed the expectation that, in the next two years, Lesotho will take necessary steps to enforce the newly approved ODS regulations and continue with on-going programmes that will enable the country to sustain and build upon its current levels of reductions in ODS and subsequently sustain zero CFC consumption and meet HCFC compliance targets.