No one should accept as valid the arguments preferred by nuclear-weapon States and those within their military alliances that there were no security conditions in place to bring about nuclear disarmament, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its thematic debate on nuclear weapons.
The General Assembly today elected 18 members of the Economic and Social Council to serve three-year terms beginning 1 January 2016.
Realizing the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the assurance of global security required the sharing of outer space technologies and the adoption of an international code of conduct for their application, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today, as it concluded its general debate on international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.
While speakers agreed on the need to end impunity for the gravest international crimes, views diverged on how broad the application of universal jurisdiction should be towards that end and whether or not to specify crimes for inclusion, as the Sixth Committee (Legal) considered the matter today.
States had the obligation to respect and ensure the right of all persons to be free from torture and ill treatment, and mechanisms to detect and prevent those scourges must have readily available funding to ensure the fulfilment of their mandates, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today as it began discussions on human rights with a series of interactive dialogues with special rapporteurs and other top officials.
Terrorism and climate change go hand in hand in delaying, and in some cases destroying, development gains, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) heard today as it concluded its discussion on sustainable development.
Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) once again threw their support behind an independent panel now examining the internal justice system set up in 2009 to resolve disputes for tens of thousands of United Nations employees around the world.
The immense, uncontrollable capability and indiscriminate nature of a nuclear detonation reached well beyond national borders, and leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its debate on nuclear weapons.
Prior to opening its annual debate on outer space issues today, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) unanimously approved a draft resolution on the University for Peace, by which the General Assembly would request the Secretary-General to expand the scope for using that institution’s services as part of his conflict-resolution and peacebuilding efforts.
A year after the first ever World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, Member States were called upon today to give them a greater voice, particularly in the context of achieving the Sustainable Development Agenda, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) began its consideration of their rights.
