General Assembly

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today voiced their concerns over the worsening cash flow problems enveloping the Organization’s regular budget and stressed the need to give the world body a sounder financial foundation.  Some Member States criticized other States for not paying their assessments on time and in full without conditions, which has forced the Secretariat to take emergency measures to pay staff and keep the New York City Headquarters operating.

Calling for the establishment of a nuclear‑weapon‑free zone in the Middle East, delegates spotlighted the benefits such an area would have in promoting peace in the region, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its general debate today.

Despite global progress in expanding use of the Internet and information communications technology (ICT), the digital divide between developed and developing countries remains wide, speakers told the Second Committee (Economic Financial) today as it addressed that issue.

The Department of Global Communications has a responsibility to disseminate a positive narrative in a world where hate has once again found a voice, a delegate told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today as it continued its general debate on questions relating to information.

Delegates from developing countries put a harsh spotlight today on the human cost of the worldwide proliferation of small arms and light weapons alongside ballooning military budgets, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) continued its general debate.

Concluding their debate on the scope and application of universal jurisdiction, and beginning consideration on the Organization’s internal justice system, as well as the Special Committee on the Charter, delegates of the Sixth Committee (Legal) today shared a wide range of stances on the complex issues before them.

An increase in enforced disappearances, anti-Semitic incidents, and deaths of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean were among the concerns addressed in briefings to the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates engaged with human rights experts in interactive dialogues.

With unilateralism, protectionism and inequalities casting a shadow on globalization, delegates underscored the importance of opening up trade and closing the digital divide in boosting economic growth, as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up globalization and interdependence today.

Renaming the Department of Global Communications was a reflection of a shift in the way in which the United Nations approaches communications, the departmental head told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today after it approved three draft resolutions on decolonization issues before taking up questions relating to information.

The General Assembly today elected 14 States to the Human Rights Council, the United Nations body responsible for promoting and protecting all human rights around the globe.