General Assembly

Given the undiminished demand for United Nations peacekeeping, “business as usual” must be replaced by innovative and multidimensional approaches, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it continued its comprehensive review of peacekeeping and concluded its consideration of the peaceful uses of outer space, the latter, with the approval of two draft texts.

Progress had been made in implementing the worldwide pledge to human dignity embodied in the United Nations Charter, but work was needed to achieve a more democratic and equitable international order, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today, as it resumed its debate on the promotion and protection of human rights.

In the ravaged wake of a hurricane that pummelled the United States east coast this week, the relevant issue of protecting people during disasters required fine-tuned approaches that would ensure assistance reached those who needed it, stated members of the Sixth Committee (Legal) today, as the debate on the Geneva-based International Law Commission’s annual report continued.

Acting without a vote in a meeting streamlined to accommodate time lost due to Hurricane Sandy, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today forwarded to the General Assembly seven draft texts spanning a range of its agenda items, from nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction to efforts to strengthen the United Nations disarmament machinery.

Despite the low cost of peacekeeping, its rewards were very high, as evidenced by the decline of casualties in conflicts and the restoration of confidence for economic activities, the Fourth Committee heard today as it began its comprehensive review of peacekeeping operations, with briefings by the heads of the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support.

The International Law Commission had made “considerable” progress in its agenda, having, among other things, adopted 32 draft articles and accompanying commentaries on the expulsion of aliens, the Sixth Committee (Legal) heard today as it began its review of the Geneva-based legal body’s annual report.

The 2016 habitat world summit — Habitat III — should reinvigorate, at the highest political level, the global commitment to sustainable urban development through the accelerated implementation of a new “Urban Agenda for the 21st Century”, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) was told today.

The First Committee today, seeking to catch up in the wake of the hurricane that paralysed the host city and shut down the United Nations for three days, agreed to streamline debate by limiting statements to just a few minutes and encouraging delegations to have the full text posted on its “Quick First” website, in line with a proposal by the Chair — the so-called “Sandy formula”.

With an outpouring of praise for the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, delegates gathered today in the General Assembly to assess the work of that body and to hear the introduction of the report on the work of the International Criminal Court.

More than any other institution, the Department of Public Information understood that the media could either be the messenger of peace and tolerance or of misunderstanding and hatred, the Fourth Committee was told today as it concluded its consideration of questions relating to information, with the approval of two draft resolutions and one draft decision.