The recent deployment of the Russian Federation’s tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus amid the war in Ukraine raises the dangers of escalation, severely impacting regional and global security, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its general debate.
The General Assembly today committed to tackle several major global health challenges, adopting three declarations that laid out measures to better prepare for and respond to pandemics, give everyone access to health coverage and care for people suffering from tuberculosis.
Petitioners on New Caledonia and Western Sahara addressed the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today, putting forth contesting perspectives of how the people of those Non-Self-Governing Territories can best achieve self-determination.
As the Sixth Committee (Legal) today began consideration of the International Law Commission’s draft articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters, speakers diverged over whether that product appropriately balanced the need to protect the rights of those affected by a disaster against those of the State in which it occurred, and if an international legal framework should be elaborated based on those texts.
Without Ukraine’s right to self-defence, there will be no sustainable peace and security in Europe, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its general debate.
Due to a backsliding in human rights exacerbated by global crises and conflicts, gender equality has fallen farther out of reach, while States play catch-up with initiatives supporting access to services and promoting women’s economic and political development, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today, continuing its debate today on the advancement of women.
Despite some progress in lowering poverty in least developed countries, it remains worrisomely high, hindering progress at all levels, a senior United Nations official told delegates today as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up groups of countries in special situations.
Petitioners speaking today on the question of Western Sahara called for the adoption of the autonomy plan put forward by Morocco in 2006, while others voiced alarm over human rights reportedly committed in the Tindouf camps, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its hearing of petitioners on decolonization matters.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the Secretary-General’s appeal for $775.3 million to fund more than three dozen special political missions in 2024 as several delegates again pushed for the creation of a special financing mechanism to sustain them. While supportive of the missions’ crucial part in the Organization’s global peace and security pillar, delegates voiced their concern that the 39 missions consume a quarter of the Organization’s regular budget.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the General Assembly consultation on Our Common Agenda, in New York today:
