By the same resolution, the Council decided that the mandate of the Force, in addition to carrying out its mandate under resolutions 425 (1978) and 426 (1978), would include, inter alia, monitoring the cessation of hostilities, accompanying and supporting the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces throughout southern Lebanon in parallel with the withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces, ensuring respect for the Blue Line and assisting the Lebanese Armed Forces in ensuring that the area between the Blue Line and the Litani River is free of any unauthorized armed personnel, assets and weapons, taking all necessary action within its capabilities to ensure that its area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities, and assisting the Government of Lebanon, at its request, in securing its borders and other entry points in order to prevent the entry into Lebanon without its consent of arms or related materiel.

It also considered the issue from a more general point of view in resolution 1373 (2001) on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts (the Council “[noted] with concern the close connection between international terrorism and transnational organized crime, illicit drugs, money-laundering, illegal arms-trafficking, and illegal movement of nuclear, chemical, biological and other potentially deadly materials”) and in the presidential statement (S/PRST/2009/32) on peace and security in Africa (“the Security Council notes with concern the serious threats posed in some cases by drug trafficking and related transnational organized crime to international security in different regions of the world, including in Africa”).

As regards earmarking of regular programme funds for “cooperation for development”, for the purpose of generating extrabudgetary funds, the point was made that this should only entail modest funds and not be at the expense of other programme activities to be funded from the regular programme.

The representative of Turkey underlined the following points: (a) the organization, Centre Europe-tiers monde had been failing to adhere to the basic principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the basic requirements set out in Council resolution 1996/31 by disrespecting the territorial integrity and political unity of Turkey; (b) the organization had been undertaking unsubstantiated and politically motivated allegations against Turkey; (c) the organization had been inciting and condoning acts of terrorism against States Members of the United Nations, which is prohibited under international law; (d) the organization had become a propaganda vehicle of the terrorist organization PKK/Kongra-Gel; and (e) the organization had not taken into consideration earlier statements of Turkey regarding the need to uphold its obligations and responsibilities under the Charter and Council resolution 1996/31.

The following entry points for future cooperation and possible joint programmes with other United Nations agencies are planned: literacy and non-formal education (with UNDP and UNICEF); improvement of teachers’ standards of living (with ILO); development of teacher policies (with UNICEF) and the inclusion of marginalized groups in the education system (with the ILO, UNICEF, UNDP and WFP).

He also pointed out that many applications are pending for longer periods, but no action is taken by any member of the Committee to expedite the decision on them, and called on Committee members to deal with all applicant organizations in a non-selective manner, arguing that the result of the vote would allow the Committee to continue its interaction and dialogue with the organization to alleviate the concerns expressed by different members.

The Committee notes that, in accordance with paragraph 21 of Council resolution 1904 (2009), after the appointment of the Ombudsman, the focal point mechanism (P-4) established in resolution 1730 (2006) shall no longer receive requests from individuals or entities seeking to be removed from the Consolidated List, but shall continue to receive requests from individuals and entities seeking to be removed from other sanctions lists.

Several delegations pointed out that private standards had a negative impact on export and economies in their countries, especially on small scale producers; they were difficult to implement; they were not based on science; their development was not open and transparent; there was no dispute settlement procedure for these standards; and claims stating that these standards were safer than public standards might mislead consumers.

Its findings call for long-term investment in social science capacitybuilding and point to disparities in research capacities in the world and set a new global agenda to promote social sciences as an invaluable tool for the advancement of all Internationally Agreed Development Goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The main points of discussion during the review of the Convention were the following: the form of the instrument which would incorporate the new provisions; the definition of the notion of “military necessity” with regard to cultural property under general as well as special protection; improvements in the regime of special protection; sanctions for grave breaches and other violations against cultural property and other related issues such as individual criminal responsibility, responsibility of States and mutual assistance in criminal matters; improvement in the protection of cultural property in conflicts not of an international character; and establishment of a supervisory body which would monitor the implementation of the Convention and the new agreement.

Furthermore, within the Unit, one Political Affairs Officer (P-3) is assigned the functions of focal point for governmental relations with Israel, while three Political Affairs Officers (1 P-5, 1 P-4 and 1 P-3) perform similar functions in relation to the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

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.

In the face of drug trafficking, the most destructive of all forms of transnational organized crime, Cuba was totally disposed to collaborate at the regional and international level in serious and concerted efforts, but pointed out that the problem could not be solved by acting exclusively — or even primarily — in centres of production and transit; the fundamental responsibility lay with the major centres of consumption.

This point was well demonstrated at the Tirana Symposium through presentations delivered by representatives of the Austrian and Australian development agencies.

On that point, the Commission noted the importance of public and private investment in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and low-carbon goods and services.

The Delegation, pointing out that this point was also emphasized in the Guidelines for the Validation of Food Safety Control Measures adopted at the current session, which provided that control measures required validation on a case-by-case basis, proposed that the restriction be lifted, but that the use of the LPS be conditional on infrastructure and validation and be based on mutual agreements between countries depending on patterns of trade, and in line with this observation, further proposed to amend footnote 9 in Appendix A: Microbiostatic Control Measures - Code of Practice for Milk and Milk Products by the addition of the following: "Any trade in milk treated by the lactoperoxidase system should only be on the basis of mutual agreement between countries concerned, and without prejudice to trade with other countries.

Transport logistics policy is a very important component of overall logistics policy, and its development can act as an entry point and contribute to wider logistics policy goals.

In this connection, Egypt, which hosted the International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Economy for the Reconstruction of Gaza early this month, renews its call for Israel to ensure the immediate, unconditional and sustained reopening of its crossing points with the Gaza Strip in order to allow for the movement of people, goods and reconstruction materials into Gaza, put an end to the continuously escalating humanitarian crisis, and rebuild what was destroyed.

He pointed out that a number of indicators might be helpful for the detection of structural discrimination, inter alia: the number and percentage of people of African descent who are victims of aggression or other offences, especially when they are committed by State officials; the absence or small number of complaints, prosecution and convictions relating to acts of racial discrimination in the respective country; lack or insufficient information on the behaviour of law enforcement officials vis-à-vis people of African descent and lack or small number of complaints against law enforcement officers; higher crime rates attributed to that group; harsher or disproportionate sentences; the number and percentage of people of African descent held in prison or preventive detention; and insufficient representation of people of African descent among law enforcement officials.

The Tribunal also exhibits several novelties from the point of view of procedure, including: (a) a Pre-Trial Judge with significant authority and responsibility; (b) a more proactive role for judges; (c) extensive victim participation in the proceedings; (d) measures alternative to detention, aimed at ensuring that freedom pending trial is the norm rather than the exception; (e) the protection of sensitive information, both to ensure the safety of witnesses and to accommodate the legitimate requests of States (including national security interests); and (f) trials in the absence of the accused under certain circumstances and with mechanisms designed to fully protect the rights of the accused.

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While we share the scepticism expressed by various members of the Council regarding the commitment of the Government of Syria to complying with all six points in the Special Envoy’s proposal — points that the Government has committed to — we believe that the best course of action is to give the Government and the members of the opposition the benefit of the doubt, and to trust that the presence of United Nations observers on the ground will make a genuine difference to the capacity of the United Nations and the League of Arab States to help find a way out of this crisis.

Consequently, in the report of the Commission on its sixty-first session it was pointed out that “certain issues concerning international responsibility between States and international organizations have not been expressly covered either in the articles on the responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts or in the draft articles on the responsibility of international organizations”; some examples of these issues were given; and the Commission asked for comments and observations from Governments and international organizations about the context in which these questions should be considered (A/64/10, paras. 27 and 28).

The 10-point resolution, inter alia, calls for the United Nations to compel Israel to immediately cease its military attacks on Gaza; demands a full withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian Territory of Gaza; urges the United Nations to convene an emergency special session of the General Assembly; appeals for the international community to immediately extend humanitarian contributions to Gaza; and urges all parties to adhere to resolutions adopted by the Security Council on this matter in efforts towards the peace process.

The representatives the joint working group established to advance and monitor the implementation of the Addis Ababa road map briefed the meeting on its highlights and provided information on the action taken after the dialogue between the two mechanisms, including the appointment of focal points within the respective secretariats and an increase in regular exchanges of information, such as notes forecasting the relevant activities of both systems; regular mailing of the special procedures bulletin to the African Commission; participation in each other’s sessions or annual meetings; the preparation of a comparative note between the two special procedures systems; reciprocal follow-up to the recommendations of each mechanism; and peer-to-peer learning.