Marking the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty today, delegates noted the persistent scourge of extreme global poverty and called for increased aid and development to tackle it as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up the issue.
A shift in States’ legal obligations when countering terrorism, the negative impacts of unilateral coercive measures and the right to development were among the many topics experts covered in briefings to the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates engaged with them in lively interactive dialogues.
The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals is essential to ensuring that the legacies of the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda Tribunals endure, the General Assembly heard today, as speakers considered the Mechanism’s first year as a “stand‑alone institution”.
Casting a spotlight on regional efforts to advance common disarmament goals, delegates in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) addressed the current and potential contribution of nuclear‑weapon‑free zones to global peace and security, as the Committee concluded its general debate and began its thematic segment.
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, briefing the Security Council today on efforts to push forward a constitutional committee aimed at ending the eight-year-long conflict in Syria, also announced his decision to step down at the end of November, while vowing to vigorously pursue a balanced, fair and inclusive political solution “until the last hour” of his tenure.
Taking action on decolonization issues today, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) approved 19 draft resolutions, five of them by recorded vote, for adoption by the General Assembly.
As international and non-international armed conflict becomes more complex, the universal ratification of the three Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions remains vital for the promotion of international humanitarian law, the Sixth Committee (Legal) heard today.
Seventy years after the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, extremism and intolerance are overshadowing moves towards democracy, delegates told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) in continued debate on the promotion and protection of human rights today.
Delegates today condemned the recent use of chemical weapons in Kuala Lumpur, Salisbury and towns in Syria, exchanging views on the establishment of an international mechanism to determine the perpetrators responsible for these crimes and administer justice, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) entered the penultimate day of its general debate.
The General Assembly decided today to provide additional rights and privileges of participation to the State of Palestine when it assumes its position as chair of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China for the year 2019.
