On the heels of what had been hailed as a historically transparent and inclusive selection process, the General Assembly this morning, for the ninth time since 1946, chose its next Secretary-General, appointing by acclamation António Guterres of Portugal for a five-year term starting 1 January 2017.
Urgent action would be required of Member States, the United Nations system and all stakeholders in order to avoid losing future generations and to address the devastating impact of conflict and other crises on children, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today.
The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its general debate today after hearing an appeal for a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons and a halt to the provision of weapons to parties to armed conflict in violation of international humanitarian law.
The Third Committee continued its discussion on the advancement of women today, with delegates sharing national action plans and legislation adopted to promote gender equality, in accordance with their commitments under Goal 5 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Delegates mixed respect for the principle of universal jurisdiction with concern about its scope and application today, as the Sixth Committee (Legal) began its consideration of that subject.
Among the gravest threats today, the widespread circulation of conventional weapons, including shipments reaching terrorist groups operating in vulnerable regions, was killing thousands of people and affecting millions more, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its general debate.
Briefing the Security Council on the situation in Haiti, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in that country said the category-four Hurricane Matthew had made landfall in the nation on 4 October, causing death, wide-spread damage, flooding and displacement.
The top United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, warning of what he called an “extremely fragile” political situation in that country, this morning called on the Security Council to urge the parties to return to dialogue, guarantee the right to peaceful opposition and to end impunity for violence, encouraging regional organizations to engage more closely with the situation.
Before it began its general debate on outer space issues today, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its consideration of decolonization questions by approving a draft resolution on implementing the Declaration on Granting Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
Droughts and floods in Mozambique were causing displacement and having disastrous effects on its gross domestic product, agriculture and food security, that country’s representative told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today as it concluded its debate on sustainable development.
