Third Committee’s Decisions Will Affect Lives of Millions, General Assembly President Says, Highlighting Organ’s Key Role in Shaping Global Human Rights Norms

The resolutions adopted by the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) during this session will impact the lives of millions worldwide, the President of the General Assembly said today, calling for global transformation rooted in international law and respect for human rights.

Amid multiple global crises, the Committee’s work is vital in promoting human rights, shaping international norms, influencing national policies and upholding “our highest ideals of tolerance, respect and human dignity,” said Assembly President Philémon Yang (Cameroon).

“From Gaza and Lebanon to Sudan, Ukraine and beyond, we see the devastating results of increasing violence, conflict and persecution,” he said, adding that 1.5 per cent of humanity is displaced, including 47 million children, and nearly 300 million people need humanitarian assistance.  In Gaza alone, over 42,000 Palestinians have been killed. “We cannot remain silent amid these and so many other crises,” he urged, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all the hostages, respect for international humanitarian law and humanitarian principles and the protection of humanitarian personnel.

The Pact for the Future — along with the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations — offers “a powerful pathway for igniting global transformation”, he noted, underscoring the urgency of turning these commitments into actions that uphold human rights.  To guide the Assembly’s work towards a safe, just, equal and inclusive world, he reiterated his commitment to ensure gender equality within his Office and among the invited speakers and panellists to General Assembly meetings. To that end, he intends to re-establish the Advisory Board on Gender Equality.  Additionally, he called on all Member States to nominate female candidates for his successors and advocated for the next Secretary-General to be a woman.

“Let us find unity in our common humanity [and] advocate for a better future for all,” he concluded.

In the ensuing discussion, speakers voiced concern over the upsurge in human rights violations worldwide, spotlighting the situations in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, Belarus, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, China and Myanmar.  Calling for the protection of civilians and accountability for international humanitarian law violations, many stressed the importance of implementing the legally binding orders rendered by the International Court of Justice.

What speakers say: 

• Celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is “impossible” while aggression against Palestinians continues
• The adoption of a legally binding instrument on the right to development is urgent
• Unilateral coercive measures undermine efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is “impossible” while the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people continues, said the representative of Mauritania, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group.  Already killing 42,000 people in Gaza, the “war machine of Israel” is targeting civilians, starving them as a method of war, as well as killing aid workers and journalists — preventing the international community from seeing its “stark violations” of international law.  Voicing further concern over the expansion of the conflict to Lebanon, he said, “the situation needs no further explanation,” and called for an immediate end to Israel’s aggression and illegal occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands.

The representative of Ireland, speaking on behalf of a group of countries, spotlighted reprisals against human rights defenders.  Though their work is integral for Member States, activists, lawyers and journalists have been kidnapped, tortured and killed — while some serve lengthy prison sentences from “dubious” terrorism charges because of their cooperation with the UN.  Worse, more victims of reprisals are declining to have their cases reported, even anonymously, suggesting a climate of fear created by both State and non-State actors.  This alarming trend is global, he observed, calling for policies to protect defenders at the State level, and for the UN to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to the scourge. 

Climate change threatens the enjoyment of human rights globally, said the representative of Grenada, speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).  For small island developing States specifically, sea level rise, environmental degradation and other climate change-related phenomena destroy key infrastructure and exacerbate food and financial instability.  In that vein, he called for increased international cooperation and financing from development partners for the affected States, spotlighting the Bridgetown Initiative on international financial infrastructure reform as a good example. 

The representative of Venezuela, speaking on behalf of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter, underscored the importance of cooperation, respect and dialogue in the UN human rights system.  Accordingly, he reaffirmed the group’s “categorical rejection of double standards” in human rights, pointing to the growing number of UN mechanisms conducting so-called “impartial” investigations of States without their consent.  Moreover, it is “immoral how some Governments pretend to portray themselves as advocates […] of human rights” while their policies and actions — namely unilateral coercive measures — block access to food, medical supplies and new technologies, he declared, calling for the swift adoption of a legally binding instrument on the right to development.

Speaking for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Malaysia’s delegate highlighted the bloc’s efforts in advancing human rights, including the establishment of the ASEAN Charter, its Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and the 2012 adoption of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration.  Because human rights are universal and interdependent and must be enforced objectively, “it is crucial to balance competing rights and interests in the fulfilment” of these rights, he said.  The bloc underscores the importance of fostering a culture of dialogue in advancing human rights and is committed to continuously share achievements, best practices and challenges to enhance cooperation in this regard.

Australia’s delegate, speaking for a group of Member States, raised alarm about “serious human rights violations in China”.  Recalling the 2022 assessment on Xinjiang by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which concluded that serious rights infringements were committed there, he said China has had many opportunities to meaningfully address the UN's “well-founded concerns”, yet it branded the assessment as “illegal and void”.  “The problematic laws and policies in Xinjiang continue to remain in place,” he said. The group is equally troubled about similar situations in Tibet, he said, urging Beijing to uphold international human rights obligations in both territories.

China’s representative, speaking for a group of countries, said a true, effective and functional multilateral system is “urgently needed more than ever”.  Yet developing countries and others continue to fall victim to unilateral coercive measures, which seriously undermine the efforts of targeted countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he said, calling for an “immediate and complete” end to such practice. The international community should also oppose this phenomenon and support affected States in mitigating associated hardships.  Switching to his national capacity, he rejected allegations against his country. Australia and the United States, among others, “resorted again to spreading lies to provoke confrontation”, he said, stressing that Xinjiang has remained stable and prosperous with all ethnic groups living together in harmony.  The referenced report is “fraught with lies and deception” and purely an OHCHR product of coercion by the United States and a few others and has long ago been rejected by the Human Rights Council.

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