General Assembly

The General Assembly today adopted a resolution endorsing the construction at Headquarters of a permanent memorial to honour the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, and encouraging Member States and other interested parties to contribute to the Trust Fund set up to pay for it.

Information was power, and the United Nations Department of Public Information was rising to the formidable communications demands of a complex world, delegates in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) said today as they concluded their consideration of questions relating to information, with the approval of two draft resolutions.

Failing to intervene and invest in children carried a high price for any society, delegates stressed, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) concluded a three day debate on the rights of children.

Although crucial in the fight against impunity, universal jurisdiction must be used selectively and exceptionally, as a means of last resort, and without violating international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter, delegates told the Sixth Committee (Legal) today as it concluded its debate on the scope and application of the principle of universal jurisdiction.

Despite “high rhetoric and moralistic assertions”, the fact was that nuclear weapons remained integral to strategic doctrines of military alliances, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) was told today, while nuclear-weapon States insisted they were “working relentlessly” to live up to commitments.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today aired its views on the evolving administrative justice system at the United Nations and the need to assess its effectiveness as Secretariat officials unveiled their annual reports on the system.

New media technologies were not just instruments of communication, but “channels of citizen participation”, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today, as it continued its consideration of questions relating to information, including in the context of how the United Nations Department of Public Information was measuring up to the challenges.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today approved eight draft resolutions relating to crime prevention, criminal justice and international drug control, including a text aimed at curbing the trafficking of cultural property ‑ an emerging issue in the global struggle against transnational organized crime.

Lack of adequate and reliable funding could threaten the future of the Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law, the Secretary of the Advisory Committee cautioned Sixth Committee delegates as deliberations on the subject began.

It was time to place a value on unpaid work carried out by women, the head of UN-Women stressed today as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) considered poverty eradication.