General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

With opening remarks by Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro, the Fifth Committee today began debating the latest management reform proposals aimed at boosting the Organization’s efficiency by overhauling how tens of thousands of staff around the world are hired, trained and paid.

The Presidents of the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court told the General Assembly today they had made great progress in their work promoting the rule of law and confronting impunity, while Assembly delegates noted the growing complexity of their cases and increased workload, and pushed for the judicial bodies to receive more human and financial resources.

A shortage of critical equipment required to carry out United Nations mandates in many peacekeeping missions had created a “yawning gap” between expectations and performance in the flagship mission that delegates maintained was already overburdened, underfunded, and overstretched, the Fourth Committee heard today, as it concluded its annual debate on peacekeeping.

After hearing from a wide variety of United Nations human rights experts over the past week, the Third Committee, today, continued its general discussion on promoting human rights, with 38 speakers taking the floor to describe national efforts to promote human rights and to address the effectiveness of the Human Rights Council and special procedures.

As the Sixth Committee continued its consideration of the report of the International Law Commission today, the Special Rapporteur responded to comments by delegates on the draft articles and the Guide to Practice on the question of “reservations to treaties”.

If managed effectively, migration could be greatly beneficial to countries of both origin and destination, the Second Committee heard today as it began its consideration of international migration and development.

A vigorous nuclear disarmament text recognizing that “the time is now opportune for all nuclear-weapon States to take effective disarmament measures to achieve the total elimination of these weapons at the earliest possible time” was forwarded to the General Assembly today, 1 of 12 draft resolutions approved by the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).

The classic practice of inserting peacekeepers between warring parties had shifted as troops now confronted intra-State issues, requiring new dimensions in civilian, policing and civic domains, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) was told today, as it continued its general debate on the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects.

Two cornerstones of United Nations action against terrorism have no proper legal basis in the organization’s Charter today, since international terrorism was not “a permanent threat to peace” and did not justify the Security Council’s supranational powers over individuals or Member States, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today.

Examining the issues involved in objections to treaties as related to State succession would be a useful contribution to the future settlement of State succession issues, Slovenia’s representative said today as the Sixth Committee (Legal) continued its annual consideration of the report of the International Law Commission with a focus on draft guidelines on objections to treaties and other matters, including the Commission’s work methods.