Space security, safety and sustainability dominated debate today in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) and although there was broad agreement on the need to preserve that realm for the public good, divergent views emerged on how best to achieve that, with some speakers defending a non-legally binding code of conduct that took into account the political environment while others called for a binding treaty via an inclusive and transparent process.
In progress at UNHQ
General Assembly
This afternoon, the General Assembly reaffirmed its faith in the United Nations and its unfailing commitment to the purposes and principles of the 70-year-old Organization’s Charter.
As major cross-cutting issues, outer space security and sustainability must be addressed in a holistic manner within multilateral forums, senior United Nations officials in the field of outer space affairs emphasized today as they addressed a joint ad hoc meeting of the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) and the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).
Harvesting of body parts from persons with albinism, criminalizing homelessness and the evermore dangerous conditions facing human rights defenders were among top experts’ grave concerns, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard as it engaged in interactive dialogues with special rapporteurs.
As major cross-cutting issues, outer space security and sustainability must be addressed in a holistic manner within multilateral forums, senior United Nations officials in the field of outer space affairs emphasized today as they addressed a joint ad hoc meeting of the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) and the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).
The world was currently witnessing the renewed use of chemical weapons, and there was no reason to think that a moral line would be drawn at the use of biological weapons, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it concluded its thematic debate on nuclear weapons and took up its consideration of other weapons of mass destruction.
Despite the persistence of divergent views on its role, Member States would remain committed to the work of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on Strengthening the Role of the United Nations, the Sixth Committee (Legal) heard today as it took up the work of that body.
Gathered today to discuss the Organization’s finances, delegates of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) once again prodded each other to make their full, timely financial payments to help the Secretariat ease a cash crunch in the regular budget and satisfy the mandates outlined in the United Nations Charter.
More effective, human rights-based approaches were urgently needed to address the global crisis of migration governance, the top United Nations human rights official told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as it continued debating the issue in a series of interactive dialogues.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today began its examination of conference management, including issues related to overall costs, multilingual translation and interpretation, document issuance, and the use of resources and facilities, while approving proposed revisions to programme planning and evaluation rules as well as recommended ways to better implement results-based budgeting.