Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today called for urgent action to meet the future office space requirements of thousands of United Nations staff members currently in off-campus leased buildings in New York, warning about the high price tag of inaction.
Gains made in the areas of human rights and development contrasted sharply with the volatile and deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, the General Assembly heard today from three dozen speakers as the 193-member body took up the situation in that country.
Culminating a session that saw intense debate on a range of issues, from the rights of the child to States’ responsibilities to protect refugees, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) concluded its work today, approving a draft resolution on human rights defenders, which will be included in a package of 62 texts expected to be taken up by the General Assembly in December.
The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this morning to introduce five draft resolutions, including a new text on “Financial inclusion for sustainable development”.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered how it might revamp the operations of a crucial oversight body — the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) — which helps the 193 delegates manage the United Nations vast human resources and its finances.
For the first time since 2009, delegates today requested a recorded vote on a draft resolution on the rights of the child, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) sent a package of 13 texts to the General Assembly on a range of issues, from preventing violence and women migrant workers to involving youth in paving a way to a sustainable future.
The General Assembly today adopted six resolutions on Palestinian and Middle East issues, as diverse as the Syrian Golan and the United Nations special information programme on the question of Palestine, all by recorded votes, exposing divisions in the world body.
Draft resolutions that would see the General Assembly address such topics as the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the impact of mercenaries and globalization on human rights were among 13 texts approved today by the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).
The world was just one major provocation in Jerusalem away from a descent into an unprecedented religious war, the General Assembly was told today as it took up the question of Palestine and heard the introduction of four draft resolutions on that matter.
In a meeting commemorating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, to be observed 29 November, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine called on the international community to stop selective and biased policies in applying justice, stressing that the lack of implementation of United Nations resolutions on Israel enabled that country to continue behaving as “a State above the law”.
