Meeting concurrently with the Security Council, the General Assembly today elected one judge out of a pool of two candidates for the International Court of Justice in The Hague to serve a term beginning today, 5 November 2021, and ending 5 February 2024.
In progress at UNHQ
General Assembly
The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its seventy‑sixth session today, approving the programme of work for its 2022 session.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) sent 13 draft resolutions to the General Assembly today covering a range of social development issues, from the right to self-determination for Palestinians and freedom of religion, to the report of the Geneva-based Human Rights Council and matters of crime prevention and criminal justice.
Delegates in the Sixth Committee (Legal) today offered various proposals in response to concerns about the abuse of the Charter of the United Nations and the impact of sanctions, as the Committee concluded its debate on the report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization, also known as the Special Charter Committee.
The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) took action on 61 draft resolutions and draft decisions today — approving 60 and rejecting 1 — as delegates expressed divergent views on weapons of mass destruction, while reaching consensus on a text addressing information and telecommunications in the context of international security.
As the Sixth Committee (Legal) concluded its debate on the third cluster of topics from the International Law Commission’s report today — thus completing its consideration of the report as a whole — delegates pointed out the Commission’s work on succession of States in respect of State responsibility hinges on considerations of continued legal personality for which uniform State practice does not exist.
As the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its general debate today, several delegates called on the Committee to revise its outdated approaches to the questions of Palestine and Western Sahara, while others voiced varying assessments of the work of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Delegates expressed differences over what constitutes legitimate arms control treaties, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) approved seven draft resolutions and one draft decision as it concluded the penultimate day of the session’s action phase.
As the international community faces the most difficult challenges of the twenty-first century, Member States must collaborate and make use of the functions and mandates of the Economic and Social Council to tackle COVID‑19, its impacts and the climate crisis, the President of the Economic and Social Council told the General Assembly today.
Concluding the second cluster of topics from the International Law Commission report, the Sixth Committee (Legal) today took up the third and final cluster, with delegates welcoming the Special Rapporteur’s decision to replace “civilized nations” in the draft articles on “General Principles of Law”.