General Assembly

Despite fewer people suffering chronic hunger and a drop in the proportion of the world’s population that was undernourished, gains in tackling hunger and food insecurity were “nowhere near good enough”, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) was told today.

A raft of traditional texts were approved today by the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), with complementary and, in part, competing, provisions aimed at neutralizing the nuclear-weapon threat and forging agreement in the Conference on Disarmament for that purpose and, pending the total elimination of those weapons, casting a wider net of nuclear-weapon-free zones and putting in place interim measures to protect non-nuclear-armed States.

Secretariat officials told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today that the multibillion dollar renovation of the United Nations historic Headquarters complex was still on track despite the blow wielded by Hurricane Sandy that shuttered the doors of the New York City compound for three days last week.

Nuclear technology would continue to play an integral role in securing energy and promoting socioeconomic development, delegates said today as the General Assembly discussed the 2011 report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and adopted a resolution reaffirming “strong support” for its indispensable role.

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.