General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

It was essential to step back from the “brink of nuclear madness”, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its thematic segment on nuclear weapons.

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) today took up the annual report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), speakers highlighted progress made in the development of trade law, including a draft convention on the judicial sale of ships, a model law on identity management and work on the reform of investor-State dispute settlement.

Concluding its consideration of decolonization, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today approved 16 resolutions on that matter, including two by recorded votes, while also approving one resolution on atomic radiation.

The Sustainable Development Goals will be meaningless if people in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Syrian Golan are left behind, delegates warned the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today as it took up the issue of those lands.

Violent conflict, climate change, development-induced displacement and exacerbated inequity between the Global North and Global South render the right to development almost impossible to attain, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today, as delegates also expressed concern over the vulnerability of displaced persons in Ukraine, Syria, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Mexico.

Nine nuclear-armed countries had claimed the right to determine the life and death of everyone on Earth, but all Member States had a voice and the vote to protect the world from catastrophe, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it began its thematic segment.

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today approved five draft resolutions, including three by recorded vote, and one draft decision concerning decolonization and related agenda items, as it concluded its general debate on decolonization.

With the New Urban Agenda crucial to sustainable human development, Member States were urged to strengthen the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN‑Habitat), as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today addressed the role of cities and other issues faced by developing countries.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the Secretary-General’s request for $767.1 million to fund 38 special political missions in 2023, with several delegations renewing calls for a separate budget to be established to address their requirements.  Delegates also raised the issue of equitable geographic representation and highlighted the disconnect between decision-making and funding of the missions.