Following the Sixth Committee’s (Legal) concluding deliberations on the second cluster of topics from the annual report of the International Law Commission, the Chairman of that body introduced topics from the third and final cluster, before delegates embarked on their debate of those matters.
With conflicts expanding in the Middle East, thrusting one community after another into extreme insecurity, Palestine refugees remained among the most marginalized due to Israel’s ongoing occupation and the absence of sustainable, predictable funding, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it took up the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
In support of United Nations development activities, primarily covering 2015, 16 countries pledged approximately $77 million today at a Headquarters event. The amount represented a dramatic decline in comparison to pledges in 2014 of $560 million.
The General Assembly today elected 23 members to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and one member to the Economic and Social Council, while appointing members of the Committee on Conferences and the Joint Inspection Unit.
Against the backdrop of an increasingly “grim” and “complex” global security landscape, special political missions — with their rapid, nimble and tailored approaches — were a key part of the United Nations peace operations toolbox, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it took up the matter in a half-day debate.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today recommended personnel appointments to fill upcoming vacancies in the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) and two other bodies that help the 193 delegates manage the United Nations vast human resources and its finances.
Determined to achieve the effective prohibition of the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and their destruction, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today approved a draft resolution on the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention that would reaffirm the obligation of States parties to destroy their stockpiles.
The International Criminal Court should be properly funded, particularly when it came to cases referred to it by the Security Council, the General Assembly heard today, as it concluded its debate on the Court’s report.
Speakers expressed unanimous satisfaction with the quality, independence, transparency and efficiency of the work of the International Court of Justice, and greater nuance in their responses to the International Criminal Court as the General Assembly took up the reports of those two bodies today.
