With less than 16 working days until the scheduled 13 December close of the main part of its seventy-fourth session, the Chairman of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budget) today warned Member States that the skyrocketing number of budget questions directed towards Secretariat officials is dangerously delaying the Committee’s work.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved 15 draft resolutions today, expressing itself on the rights of children and advancement of women, as well as on the protection of refugees in Africa and the implementation of minimum accessibility standards for persons with disabilities, among other topics.
Delegates extolled the long overdue urgency of creating a nuclear‑weapon‑free zone in the Middle East today to quell chronic regional tensions and build an inclusive foundation of peace and security, as the inaugural Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction opened at Headquarters today, without the participation of Israel and the United States.
In a day of intense action, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved 12 draft resolutions, including three on the broad theme of migration flows, touching on refugees, protection of migrants and human trafficking.
Completing its work for the main part of the General Assembly’s seventy-fourth session today, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) approved eight draft resolutions concerning Israeli practices in the occupied Arab territories and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and a draft decision on its work programme for the next session.
The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today introduced 26 draft resolutions and approved six, two by recorded vote, including one demanding that Israel end its occupation of the Palestinian Territory and the Syrian Golan.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved five draft resolutions today, all of which focused on country-specific situations and were subject to lively and contentious debate.
Delegates expressed concern today over Israel’s attempts to change the status of holy sites in Jerusalem, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its general debate on that country’s practices that affect the human rights of people in occupied Arab lands.
Speakers decried Israel’s excessive use of force during peaceful demonstrations today, citing more than 100 deaths and thousands of injuries, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) began its general debate on Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories.
Some 16 countries pledged a total of $516 million at today’s 2019 United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities, representing a considerable increase over 2018 which saw $425.69 million promised.
