General Assembly

Joining forces to reduce nuclear arsenals, keeping promises, declaring zones free of nuclear weapons, stemming proliferation, abandoning the rationale for nuclear weapons retention and abolishing them were among the calls to action in five draft resolutions tabled today as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its thematic debate on nuclear weapons.

Delegations in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), before concluding their consideration of the peaceful uses of outer space, weighed the strength of existing international space law to prevent the militarization of outer space and to respond to other current challenges, such as the use of nuclear power sources in outer space and the threat of space debris.

Taking action for the first time during its current session, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today approved a text recommending to the General Assembly the adoption of a resolution setting out United Nations standards for the treatment of women prisoners and non-custodial measures for women offenders, also known as the “Bangkok Rules”.

Despite encouraging progress in strengthening the financing for development follow-up process, more must be done to ensure full implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration, delegates in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) emphasized today.

A multilateral agreement on nuclear weapons would reflect the belief that such an instrument could prevent the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons and create a climate for negotiating a ban on the use of nuclear weapons and help diminish their role, said India’s representative in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today, upon the introduction of three draft resolutions.

In the wake of the General Assembly’s renewed commitment to galvanizing political momentum towards implementation of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, it was crucial for international partners to cooperate on redressing the ills of the world’s most strife-ridden continent, said delegates gathered today for their annual joint debate on development in Africa.

In a press conference at Headquarters today, Mazlan Othman, Director of the Office for Outer Space Affairs and Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, gave an overview of work being done on the peaceful uses of outer space through the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization Committee).

Global responses to human emergencies and advances in national space sectors were among the hard proof of the world’s commitment to the notion of developing outer space for the good of humankind, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today during its general debate on international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.

To “truly universalize child rights,” the world community must reach the neediest children in their early years, with critical nutrition, nurturing, education and child protection, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today.