The General Assembly today expressed deep concern over the volatility in Afghanistan since the takeover of the Taliban in 2021, and the persistent violence and presence of terrorist groups as well as abuse of human rights, including those of women, girls and minorities.
The General Assembly, acting without a vote, today took up the annual report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and adopted a related resolution.
Speakers today condemned unprecedented levels of violence by Israeli security forces and settlers against Palestinians, as well as attacks on human rights defenders and organizations, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) began its general debate on Israeli practices which impact the human rights of Palestinians and other Arabs living in occupied territories.
Heartbreaking accounts of violence from survivors in Libya underscore the collective obligation to deliver justice — and not “as an abstract idea” — following the Security Council’s referral of the case to the International Criminal Court in 2011, stressed its top prosecutor, who, marking the first visit of his Office to Libya in a decade, briefed the 15-nation organ via videoconference.
Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the progress and challenges facing the Secretariat as it manages the United Nations conference services at its four headquarter duty stations around the globe.
Along with taking action on several draft resolutions today, the Sixth Committee (Legal) also took up the report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country, as many speakers expressed concern that bilateral political considerations have impacted the host country’s discharge of its multilateral duties under the United Nations Headquarters Agreement.
With its mandate up for renewal by the General Assembly, and demands for its services growing, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) urgently requires a substantial capital injection to lift it out of a chronic budget deficit, its head told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today.
Syria must fully and urgently cooperate with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to close all outstanding issues regarding its chemical weapons declarations, the detection of a Schedule 2 chemical at the Barzah facilities of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre in November 2018, and the unauthorized movement of the two cylinders related to the chemical weapon incident in Douma in April 2018, the United Nations disarmament chief told the Security Council today.
Revitalizing the work of the General Assembly is of crucial importance in the overall reform of the United Nations and strengthening of multilateralism, delegates stressed today, as the Assembly also proclaimed 18 November as World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence.
Delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today urged the Assembly to deliver on the Secretary-General’s proposal to keep the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone running in 2023 with a $2.9 million subvention.
