Addressing threats to the global non‑proliferation regime, from halting a mounting wave of cyberattacks worldwide to totally eliminating atomic bombs, requires collective will, briefers told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today during a virtual informal interactive dialogue that highlighted recent cybersecurity developments alongside the Latin America and Caribbean regions’ contributions to a nuclear‑weapon‑free world.
Complaints and concerns about the abuse of the Headquarters Agreement by the United States dominated discussion in the Sixth Committee (Legal) today, as delegations took up the report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country. (For background, see Press Release GA/L/3622.)
Stressing that “censorship kills scholarship”, the United Nations expert on free expression launched a passionate defence of academia as a bastion of ideas that all too often comes under siege by States seeking to control or supress the flow of information, as Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) delegates continued their interactive dialogues on broad questions of human rights today.
Governments must ensure that people facing discrimination are included in dialogues and decisions affecting their lives, experts told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates discussed cultural rights, as well as the human rights of persons with disabilities and albinism.
Between 150 million and 175 million more people will fall into extreme poverty, due to the epic fallout from COVID‑19, the Special Rapporteur on the topic told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates raised concerns about the plight of the world’s most vulnerable in a series of interactive dialogues.
The COVID‑19 pandemic is magnifying threats to the safety and fundamental rights of migrant workers and religious minorities, independent human rights experts told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates engaged with them in animated virtual discussions, which spanned half a day.
As the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to batter the economies of developing countries, the five regional commissions of the United Nations system are crucial to fostering the multilateralism required to recover and pursue the Sustainable Development Goals, those speakers told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) as it met with those bodies today.
The ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories and the Syrian Golan violates international law and human rights, a situation worsening as the COVID‑19 pandemic puts health infrastructure “on the verge of collapse”, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) heard today as it took up a report on the issue.
Questions around the right to free assembly, creation of an equitable world order and efforts to stem enforced disappearances — a crime that is soon to reach 1,000 cases a day — took centre stage in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates evaluated the human rights norms underpinning State relations since the Second World War.
With the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change exacerbating world hunger, speakers emphasized the need to boost agriculture, empower farmers, preserve biodiversity and protect ecosystems, as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up agriculture development, food security and nutrition today.
