The COVID‑19 pandemic is magnifying threats to the safety and fundamental rights of migrant workers and religious minorities, independent human rights experts told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates engaged with them in animated virtual discussions, which spanned half a day.
As the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to batter the economies of developing countries, the five regional commissions of the United Nations system are crucial to fostering the multilateralism required to recover and pursue the Sustainable Development Goals, those speakers told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) as it met with those bodies today.
The ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories and the Syrian Golan violates international law and human rights, a situation worsening as the COVID‑19 pandemic puts health infrastructure “on the verge of collapse”, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) heard today as it took up a report on the issue.
Questions around the right to free assembly, creation of an equitable world order and efforts to stem enforced disappearances — a crime that is soon to reach 1,000 cases a day — took centre stage in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates evaluated the human rights norms underpinning State relations since the Second World War.
The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its general debate today amid warnings that transnational criminal organizations and terrorist groups are driving illicit arms transfers and weaponizing cyberspace while geopolitical tensions increase the risk of nuclear escalation.
As the Sixth Committee (Legal) concluded its debate on strengthening and promoting the international treaty framework today, speakers highlighted the importance of developing online tools to facilitate the treaty process and the need to correct the geographic imbalance in the registration of these instruments.
With the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change exacerbating world hunger, speakers emphasized the need to boost agriculture, empower farmers, preserve biodiversity and protect ecosystems, as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up agriculture development, food security and nutrition today.
Delegates expressed concerns today about the impact of the worsening United Nations liquidity crisis on peace operations and special political missions supporting transitions, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its joint general debate on a range of topics.
The representative of the United States today rejected as “patently false and downright insulting” suggestions that her country is responsible for the United Nations liquidity crisis, while other speakers urged those Member States with the capacity to do so to pay their assessments in full and on time, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) took up the question of improving the Organization’s financial situation.
Multilateralism and international cooperation are needed to ensure less developed countries can adequately address the enormous challenges posed by the COVID‑19 pandemic, experts told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates engaged with them in animated virtual discussions covering the right to development and the use of unilateral coercive measures.
