General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

The General Assembly today elected 15 Member States to the Human Rights Council, the United Nations body responsible for promoting and protecting all human rights around the globe.

Heightened geopolitical tensions, retrenchment of a deteriorating security environment with few tangible gains, the enduring war in Ukraine and troubling events rapidly unfolding in the Middle East framed debate today in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).

Obstacles remain to realizing the full rights of Indigenous Peoples, but initiatives meant to empower them offer opportunities for social and economic growth as well as healing from past wounds, the Third Committee (Social Humanitarian, Cultural) heard today as it took up the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

As the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up more than a dozen reports relating to sustainable development today, delegates spotlighted the importance of promoting renewable, sustainable and affordable sources of energy, also calling for more support for developing and least developed countries to sustain progress.

The United Nations senior management official told delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today that the deteriorating liquidity situation of the Organization’s regular budget could persist into 2024 if the collection rates of unpaid assessments from Member States does not pick up.

Continuing its general debate on decolonization and related items, speakers in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today called for special attention to be given to the vulnerability of small island Non-Self-Governing Territories, including the impact of climate change.

The question of Western Sahara remained in the spotlight today as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) resumed its general debate on decolonization and related issues today, after hearing the last of more 200 petitioners who had registered to speak during this session on the situations in the 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories.

A widening digital divide and severely lagging Internet-use in developing countries threaten to leave those States in the technological wake and preclude progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a senior United Nations official and Member States told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today as it took up information and communications technology (ICT) questions.

Multilateralism is under immense pressure, but it must not succumb to unilaterialism at a time when the world needs to unite around a global system that ensures security for all, speakers in the First Committee (Disarmament and Intern

Cyberbullying and sexual exploitation and abuse are among rising online threats to children, who are also killed in conflicts and forcibly recruited as combatants, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today, as delegates continued their general discussion on promotion and protection of children’s rights.