A date for a conference on Syria, the “Geneva 2” conference, could be set in the next few days. The announcement was made by Foreign Minister Emma Bonino, who is in New York for the 68th United Nations General Assembly. She underscored, however, that numerous difficulties still need to be overcome. “I remain confident and hopeful that we’ll manage to set a date by the end of the week”, she declared, adding that “it’s clear that one of the problems hinges on the determination and cohesiveness of the Syrian opposition”.
Forced marriages: a form of slavery
“Forced marriages are a form of slavery, often sexual in nature, and a cause of great violence”, declared the Minister in the context of a meeting on this subject in the margins of the General Assembly.
The meeting was organised by Canada, the Netherlands and Ghana and other members of the Core Group that Italy has recently joined. The aim of the meeting is to examine how to achieve a UN Resolution on this topic, and ways to support the countries most affected by this scourge.
“The campaign against forced marriages is one I’ve been following for years, a campaign that has been conducted in tandem with the campaign against female genital mutilation. Because all too often these two evil practices go hand in hand, and in any case are found in the same countries”, said the Minister.
UN: 2014 a crucial year for Security Council reform
Minister Bonino also took part in a ministerial meeting of the “Uniting for Consensus” (UFC) countries, and underscored that 2014 will be a crucial and very busy year for the reform of the United Nations Security Council. Today’s meeting confirmed that the reform is both necessary and urgent and requires the consensus of a very large and cross-cutting majority of UN member states.
The UFC have decided to take “very structured action for 2014, because 2015 will see the 70th anniversary of the United Nations. It’s a year that could see an increased general awareness of the need for reform”, commented Minister Bonino.
Today’s meeting took place in the Italian Permanent Representation to the UN. It was attended by the foreign ministers and representatives of Italy, Argentina, Canada, Colombia, South Korea, Costa Rica, Mexico, Malta, Pakistan, San Marino, Spain and Turkey.
“The UFC group decided to accept the Mexican proposal to hold a meeting at deputy minister level in Mexico in January 2014” explained Minister Bonino. “The meeting will examine both the more strictly political aspects and the more general context, and conduct an in-depth analysis. The UFC also agreed with a Turkish proposal to hold a ministerial-level meeting in the second half of the year, in Istanbul, with the more specific goal of launching a global campaign to inform public opinion”. Minister Bonino observed that “the reform of the Security Council is not just a UN question, but one of the most important political questions”.
The UFC nations have proposed that a new category of semi-permanent members be created, without the right of veto. With a mandate of three to five years, renewable twice at most, and allocated on a regional basis
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