The work of the Department of Global Communications is as critical as ever as the international community grapples with the manifold challenges of a global pandemic, the negative impacts of climate change and a resurgence of conflict, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it took up questions relating to information.
Nearly a dozen years after its creation by the Security Council, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals is ready to transition from a fully operational court to a truly residual institution, its President said today as she briefed the General Assembly on its work over the past year.
No United Nations Member State was too big to disarm on its own and none too small to make a contribution, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) was told today as it concluded its thematic debate on nuclear weapons and began consideration of other weapons of mass destruction.
Climate change as a driver of migration, an increase in enforced disappearances, the misuse of digital technologies violating the right to privacy and educational disparities worldwide were among concerns addressed by human rights experts in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today. With delegates raising questions on how to effectively protect affected populations during interactive dialogues.
As senior representatives from Serbia and Kosovo traded divergent opinions about the cause of regional insecurity and the reasons for the lack of progress in discussions between both parties, the United Nations top official in Pristina called for restraint and constructive dialogue through all available channels, as some delegates continued to question the need to maintain the Organization’s transitional administration mission in Kosovo.
Progress in Mali’s political transition and peace process is unfolding amid a challenging security, humanitarian and human rights situation with severe consequences for civilians, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today, as delegates called for strengthened measures to ensure the safety and freedom of movement of peacekeepers following the deaths of four United Nations blue helmets just a day before.
Ensuring the safety and security of diplomatic and consular missions and representatives is crucial for international relations to function, speakers stressed today in the Sixth Committee (Legal), as they contrasted national endeavours with examples of inadequate responses to violations committed against such personnel in receiving States.
It was essential to step back from the “brink of nuclear madness”, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its thematic segment on nuclear weapons.
With the spread of cholera exacerbating the ongoing security, humanitarian, economic, and political crisis faced by Haiti, the Security Council must act — “and decisively so” — in response to its Government’s request for support to its institutions to restore order, and to save thousands of lives that will otherwise be lost, the United Nations top official for that country told the Security Council today, as Council members weighed in on two draft resolutions under consideration.
As the Sixth Committee (Legal) today took up the annual report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), speakers highlighted progress made in the development of trade law, including a draft convention on the judicial sale of ships, a model law on identity management and work on the reform of investor-State dispute settlement.
