General Assembly

The patchwork of national and regional controls over the conventional weapons trade lacked the global support needed to reduce the millions of arms currently in circulation, delegates heard today in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), along with the introduction of two draft resolutions aimed at countering that deficit.

Calling upon States to “reconnect with the values” of the Convention against Torture, Claudio Grossman, Chairperson of the Committee against Torture, emphasized at Headquarters today the imperative of fighting attempts to make torture acceptable, particularly during emergency situations.

The implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples should not be obscured by a discussion about whether or not it is a legally binding document and should be regarded as a “political, moral and legal imperative” without qualification, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today, as it began its discussion of indigenous issues and the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People.

The Sixth Committee (Legal) today took up and completed its current consideration of two items, one relating to the safeguarding of diplomatic and consular premises and the other relating to the report of the Special Committee on the Charter. It also concluded current debate on the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions.

Given the myriad challenges still facing least developed countries, small island developing States, and landlocked developing countries due to multi-dimensional global crises, the international community must work to establish a new, targeted and action-oriented programme of action at the Fourth United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries next May, several speakers stressed today.

Asserting that the “high priests of disarmament are quite content with the status quo”, Pakistan’s representative told the First Committee that “the deafening silence surrounding the real priorities is pierced by a cacophony about the imaginary malaise of the Conference on Disarmament”.

During a day of lively and wide-ranging discussion on the significance of sport as a driving force for peace and development, and intercultural dialogue as a tool to ensure respect and the equal dignity of all cultures, the General Assembly adopted a consensus resolution recognizing the potential of sport to help attain the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, and foster an atmosphere of tolerance.

From the reintegration of child soldiers to rural schools-on-wheels and the daily recital of a national pledge, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today of the many ways in which Member States have been promoting and protecting the rights of children, in light of their respective socio-economic and cultural situations.

As the Sixth Committee began its deliberations on the status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts, delegates expressed grave concerns about the accountability of Member States and urged greater compliance to all provisions in the Conventions and Additional Protocols.

After the 2015 target year for realizing the Millennium Development Goals, global policymakers should consider replacing the current economic categories of countries by classifying them in a manner more appropriately reflecting their socio-economic situations and challenges, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.