There is momentum for global dialogue on reparatory justice for people of African descent, experts told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as numerous delegates also voiced support for the right of Palestinians to self-determination.
Calling for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities, the General Assembly today demanded the unhindered provision of essential aid to civilians throughout the Gaza Strip, as the body continued its emergency session on the situation in the Middle East. The Assembly also failed to unequivocally reject and condemn the terrorist attacks by Hamas that took place in Israel starting on 7 October.
Deeply concerned at the deteriorated international security environment and irresponsible rhetoric that make the threat of nuclear weapons use higher than any time since the heights of the cold war, the General Assembly would urge all States to ensure that those weapons are never used again, according to a draft resolution approved today in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).
As the Sixth Committee (Legal) concluded its review of the first cluster of topics from the International Law Commission’s annual report, many speakers highlighted the need for an international framework that protects States from being threatened by sea-level rise, especially in light of how climate change was not on the horizon when the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was put into force.
UN officials expressed grave concern over a sharp rise in hate speech and populism, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) began discussing racism and self-determination today, amid demands for colonization reparations and alarm over the threat of ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara, Palestine and Kashmir.
Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today laid out their intentions to ensure the United Nations can stage quality conferences — equally accessible to every Member State — at all four headquarters.
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its general debate on international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space today with the approval, without a vote, of a draft resolution on that topic, following the late withdrawal of a competing text.
The worsening tension, unspeakable violence and harrowing suffering must end now, UN General Assembly President stressed today at an emergency meeting on the situation in the Middle East, during which he condemned the killing of all civilians on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides and urged all parties to abide by international law and immediately allow for aid to access the Gaza Strip.
As the world faces an onslaught of conflicts and challenges to international law, the growing docket of the International Court of Justice continues to reflect a wide variety of legal disputes involving countries from every region of the world and tackling questions that concern all of humanity, its President told the General Assembly today.
The UN disarmament machinery is paralyzed by widening geopolitical fractures, erosion of international regimes and the proliferation of regional conflicts, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today, as it concluded its series of thematic debates for the session.
