The General Assembly this morning adopted 10 resolutions, nine of them without a vote, encouraging deeper cooperation between the United Nations and various regional organizations to address emerging challenges in sustainable development, fighting terrorism and economic integration.
Following a debate on modalities of stronger cooperation on peace and security between the United Nations and the African Union, the Security Council today welcomed the regional organization’s efforts to create a predictable cost-sharing structure for the funding of peace-support operations authorized by the Council.
State judicial sovereignty, the bounds of international law, and differing perspectives as to whether sexual orientation should be considered a human right, came to the fore during Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) discussions today, as delegates approved six draft resolutions on extrajudicial executions, the right to peace and the use of mercenaries.
The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) approved three draft resolutions today, including “Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development” (document A/C.2/71/L.20/Rev.1).
Speakers in the Security Council this morning called for a stronger strategic partnership between the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on peace and security, particularly in relation to countering extremist ideology.
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Joint Investigative Mechanism, the body mandated to determine responsibility for the use of chemical weapons in Syria, for an additional year.
An intense discussion on the international legal standing of the death penalty and national sovereign rights to determine domestic judicial systems dominated Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural) proceedings today, as delegates approved an amended draft resolution calling for a moratorium on that practice, by a recorded 115 votes in favour to 38 against, with 31 abstentions.
The deterioration of South Sudan’s economy and the increasingly fragmented conflict in that country had placed it on a potential downward slide towards greater divisiveness and the risk of a full-scale civil conflict, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in that country told the Security Council this afternoon.
Unanimously adopting its annual resolution in support of the Government and people of Afghanistan, the General Assembly today heard expressions of alarm over recent spikes in civilian casualties and the influence of violent extremists, as speakers vowed to help the conflict-affected nation achieve its untapped potential.
The General Assembly this morning adopted, without a vote, a resolution that strongly encouraged Member States and national, regional and local education authorities to integrate education for democracy — along with civic education, human rights instruction and education for sustainable development — into their curricula and to strengthen programmes aimed at the promotion of democratic values.
