General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

Speakers today called for urgent action to stop the rampant rise of xenophobia, racism and intolerance, as the General Assembly commemorated the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, observed on 21 March.

The scheme to restructure the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was a winning proposal that would help the Organization better respond to Member States’ growing demand for assistance in fulfilling their human rights commitments, delegates told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) took up the air travel policies of the United Nations on day two of its resumed seventy‑second session today, with delegates voicing support for the Secretary‑General’s proposal that high‑ranking officials fly business class — rather than first class — to help rein in one of the most expensive aspects of the Organization’s budget.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) opened the first part of its resumed seventy‑second session today, reviewing its provisional work programme and hearing the introduction of reports pertaining to the work of the Joint Inspection Unit.

Concluding its work today, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations approved the draft report of its 2018 session (document A/AC.121/2018/L.3).

The General Assembly, welcoming progress made by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme to break links between the diamond trade and conflict, today adopted a consensus resolution aimed at intensifying that work and aligning it with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Concluding its annual session today, the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on Strengthening the Role of the Organization adopted its 2018 draft report and forwarded its recommendations to the General Assembly.

The Special Committee on Decolonization opened its 2018 session today, electing by acclamation Walton Alfonso Webson (Antigua and Barbuda) as its Chair and agreeing to proceed with a visiting mission to New Caledonia in March, ahead of a referendum on self‑determination in that French‑administered territory.

The Disarmament Commission elected the Chair and five Vice-Chairs for its 2018 substantive session today and added two substantive items — focusing on recommendations for achieving nuclear disarmament and preventing an arms race in outer space — to the agenda of its new three-year cycle.

The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization opened its 2018 session today with delegates debating questions related to working methods, sanctions and the Committee’s role in the peaceful settlement of disputes.