The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) opened its debate on human rights today, holding a series of dialogues with United Nations experts — on topics ranging from the rights of migrants and safety of journalists, to the prevention of torture — and assessing the work of treaty bodies tasked with monitoring State behaviour.
The devastating impacts of climate change threaten the progress and even existence of least developed countries, speakers told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today during the first of two days of debate on the issue of sustainable development.
Implementation of the rule of law principle on the international level — particularly in the area of conflict resolution — was being undermined by States failing to adhere to their international obligations, along with the selective enforcement and exploitation of existing frameworks and mechanisms, delegations stressed as the Sixth Committee (Legal) concluded its consideration on the topic today.
Cautioning against the start of a new worldwide arms race, on Earth and in outer space, delegates called for urgent, renewed efforts to move beyond the decades‑long stalemate in the disarmament machinery, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) continued its general debate today.
With as many as 5 billion people around the world falling into a “justice gap”, the rule of law is crucial in the compacts between people and their Governments, and between States, a senior United Nations official told the Sixth Committee (Legal) today as it continued its consideration of the principle.
After calling numerous meetings on the question of Western Sahara for more than 40 years, it appears the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) is taking steps backwards instead of moving forward, a delegate told that body today, as it continued its general debate on decolonization.
Two nuclear‑weapon States, China and the Russian Federation, today said that a third, the United States, is contributing to global insecurity by failing to fulfil its obligations under existing arms control, disarmament and non‑proliferation instruments, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) continued its general debate.
Safeguarding land rights and providing effective access to justice are vital for the realization of indigenous peoples’ fundamental collective rights, delegates told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today in a half‑day discussion on the issue.
The United Nations senior management official told members of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today that the Organization is confronting its worst liquidity crisis in recent years as she laid out the Organization’s key financial indicators for 2019.
With world hunger rising for the third year after decades of decline, delegates underscored the escalating impacts of climate change and the urgent need for more weather resilient farming, as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up agriculture, food security and nutrition today.
