Meetings Coverage

​​​​​​​The Security Council today, meeting independently from, but concurrently with the General Assembly, elected Leonardo Nemer Caldeira Brant (Brazil) to the International Court of Justice until 5 February 2027.

​​​​​​​The General Assembly would encourage Member States to better understand the impact of armed violence, in particular the impact of the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons on women and girls, according to one of the 14 draft resolutions and one draft decision approved today by the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).

GENEVA, 3 November (United Nations Office at Geneva) — Journalists, media experts, policymakers and scholars gathered for the opening of the twenty‑ninth annual International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East today, held in Room XXVI at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

After taking action on requests for observer status in the General Assembly and considering the report “Diplomatic protection”, the Sixth Committee (Legal) took up the “Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization”, with speakers underlining the importance of that Committee and urging that discussions therein can proceed in a technical and legal fashion, free of politicization.

Amid rising geopolitical tensions, spreading insecurity and escalating climate catastrophes, the Security Council must act early, engage strategically and speak with one voice to mobilize the international community’s political and financial support and foster the commitment of conflict actors to secure peace, delegates heard today during the Security Council’s open debate on integrating effective resilience-building in peace operations.

Delegates from countries where United Nations peacekeeping missions are deployed expressed divergent views today on their effectiveness in the midst of increasingly difficult conflict environments, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its general debate on the Organization’s peacekeeping efforts.

The General Assembly today adopted its annual resolution calling for an end to the United States-led embargo on Cuba, with speakers emphasizing how urgent it is to end the restrictive economic policies in light of crippling COVID‑19 challenges and the mounting global food, fuel, and inflation crises.

States must maintain a spirit of constructive dialogue when implementing mandates stemming from resolutions adopted by the Human Rights Council, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today, as it continued its general discussion on the report by that body and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Expressing concern over the fragmentation of standards and arrangements in the employment conditions and compensation of United Nations staff worldwide, delegates reiterated their commitment to a single, unified common system and called for solutions, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) reviewed the Secretary-General’s proposals to promote consistency.

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), having approved nearly 50 drafts thus far on nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, outer space (disarmament aspects), and conventional weapons, focused today on positions regarding other disarmament measures and international security, on which voting is set for Thursday, 3 November.