General Assembly: No name

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) approved five draft resolutions today aimed at preventing an arms race in outer space today, as it continued the action phase of its session.

Against the backdrop of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, speakers today in the Sixth Committee (Legal) continued their review of the International Law Commission report’s second cluster of topics, offering detailed accounts of both national and regional initiatives to address the urgent and life-threatening crisis posed by rising sea-levels.

While many Member States praised the Human Rights Council for its inclusivity and focus on human rights emergencies in Afghanistan, Myanmar and elsewhere, others accused it of being selective in its monitoring and condemnation, as the General Assembly took up the intergovernmental body’s annual report today.

Stressing the importance of reflection over reflexive judgement, the President of the International Court of Justice told the Sixth Committee (Legal) today that it is the genuine airing of a variety of perspectives which makes that institution truly a world court.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) punctuated its series of interactive dialogues today, with a briefing by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees who rallied Governments to draw inspiration from the world’s 82 million people forcibly displaced who refuse to give up on their quest to build a better life.

Mercenaries and private actors profit from operating cybercapabilities that could be used during hostilities ‑ or in non-conflict settings ‑ to violate human rights, an independent expert told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates continued their dialogues with special procedure mandate holders.

The General Assembly today adopted a resolution emphasizing the need for adequate, predictable and sustainable funding of the United Nations resident coordinator system, following a day‑long debate on the work of the International Court of Justice, which marks its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2021.

After taking action on a request for observer status in the General Assembly, the Sixth Committee (Legal) today concluded the first cluster of topics of the International Law Commission reports and took up the second cluster, with delegates debating what role the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea should play in addressing rising sea levels resulting from climate change, an existential threat to many island and low-lying States not contemplated when that Convention was signed in 1982.

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) voiced their alarm over an ongoing cash crunch that could threaten the Organization’s effectiveness as a multilateral institution determined to help the developing world rebound from the global pandemic.

Continuing their consideration of the International Law Commission’s report today, delegates in the Sixth Committee (Legal) proposed changes to the Commission’s working methods and programme of work, while also considering the draft guidelines on the protection of atmosphere and provisional application of treaties.