General Assembly

The world was witnessing a situation in which pressures on land and water were increasing at “unprecedented speed,” with dramatic consequences for millions of farmers, fishermen and indigenous people and their right to food, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural) was told today.

When the Sixth Committee (Legal) today took up the issue of transboundary harm from hazardous activities, the discussion centred largely on how the draft articles on prevention of the harm and the draft principles on allocation of loss could be most effectively engaged, either in concert or independently of one another.

With five years left until the 2015 deadline for meeting the Millennium Development Goals, and millions of people being pushed deeper into poverty worldwide, the international community must take immediate and comprehensive remedial action at the regional, national and international levels, delegates emphasized today as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) considered the eradication of poverty and other development issues.

Facing new technological challenges, calming regional tensions, destroying arms and building strong common regulatory initiatives were among the themes of a basket of four resolutions and one decision tabled today as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) continued its thematic debates.

The process leading to elections in Myanmar, planned for 7 November, could not be called inclusive or independent, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the South-East Asian country said at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

As threats posed by increasing pressures on arable land continued to impact millions of farmers, fisherman and indigenous people that depend on access to land and water for their livelihoods, it was to vital to move swiftly towards promoting the rights of land users as human rights, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food said at a Headquarters press conference today.

While extending its network beyond traditional means of communication to reach new geographic and demographics audiences, the Department of Public Information (DPI) should also strengthen existing channels such as radio and the United Nations Information Centres, and continue striving to achieve language parity, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today.

Human rights were too often discussed in the abstract and, despite all the changes in the past 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, the collective challenge remained the same — bringing the vision closer to the ground, so it could “touch the lives of real people”, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today.

The 19 draft articles on diplomatic protection should be elaborated into a convention recommended by the International Law Commission, the representative of Chile told the Sixth Committee (Legal) today, as the Committee took up and completed its current consideration of the item, in a debate comparable to its discussion yesterday on State responsibility for internationally wrongful acts.