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.
Reflecting continuing differences over how to rid the world of nuclear weapons and contain threats posed by other weapons of mass destruction, delegates voted on dozens of provisions today while approving 25 draft resolutions and decisions, including several new texts, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) began its action phase.
The Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People expresses its deep concern at Israel’s decision of 22 October to designate as “terrorist organizations” six Palestinian human rights and humanitarian civil society organizations: Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association; Al Haq; Defense for Children International – Palestine; Union of Agricultural Work Committees; Bisan Center for Research and Development; and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees.
Ensuring the safety and proper resourcing of United Nations ‘Blue Helmets’ is key to the successful implementation of peacekeeping mandates, delegates said today, while also underscoring that civilian protection must remain a core focus during mission drawdowns and transitions, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its general debate.
Special Rapporteurs presented reports on internal displacement, human trafficking and modern slavery today, warning that the number of people forcibly displaced within their own countries due to conflict is the highest on record, at 48 million, as Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) delegates engaged in interactive dialogues on human rights matters.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) continued its interactive dialogues on human rights today with experts calling for stronger international and national laws to uproot the entrenched vestiges of colonialism and gender-based discrimination, tackle extrajudicial and arbitrary executions, and end bias in the housing market.
