Representatives and petitioners from French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Guam and the British Virgin Islands took the floor today as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) began considering in closer detail the situations in the 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories.
As they gauged ongoing efforts to run an ethical and accountable Organization, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today stressed the need for an independent Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the oversight body that carries out internal audits, investigations and evaluations of the Organization’s resources and staff.
The risk of nuclear weapons use is real and it is crystal clear that as long as they exist, the world will never be a safer place, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today, as it continued its wide-ranging general debate.
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) began its general debate on decolonization and related items today, with many speakers emphasizing the need to resolve the questions of the 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories, more than six decades after the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
Convening its first meeting of the seventy-eighth session today, the Sixth Committee (Legal) took up the Secretary-General’s report on measures to eliminate international terrorism, with delegates investigating the scourge’s emerging trends and underscoring both the importance of agreeing on a legal definition and developing a comprehensive convention on combating the menace.
As developing States face compounding crises of onerous debt, extreme poverty and the costs of climate change, “business as usual is not viable” in steering the dangerously off-track Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) back towards progress, speakers warned today as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) opened its annual general debate.
Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today tackled a diverse set of financial issues that included adequate funding to safely drawdown a peacekeeping mission in Africa, creating a stable financing mechanism for the Organization’s Peacebuilding Fund and exploring changes in the complex methodology used to assess Member States’ contributions. As they opened their seventy-eighth session and approved their work programme, delegates also discussed the Organization’s liquidity woes and once again urged each other to make timely payments so the Organization can fulfil the core mandates laid down by Member States.
Organized criminal groups use technology in every step of their process, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today, as delegates highlighted the many scourges stemming from human trafficking and outlined ways to prevent crime and combat the illicit trafficking of drugs, corruption, terrorism and organized crime.
Amid rising geopolitical tensions and the peace and security architecture under unprecedented strain, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) has a key role in ensuring disarmament will be at the centre of broader multilateral efforts at this critical moment in history, the body heard today at the start of its 2023 general debate.
Endorsing a political declaration adopted by world leaders last week, the General Assembly today reaffirmed its commitment to lift millions out of poverty and fight extreme hunger as initially pledged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with speakers divided over language or the lack thereof in the text on issues pertaining to climate change, the global economy, unilateral coercive measures and gender-based targets.
