Central Africa’s security and humanitarian crisis triggered by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) should not be underestimated, senior United Nations and African Union officials in the region told the Security Council today, urging all forces involved in combating the armed group to sustain their momentum and coordinate more closely in order to eliminate its influence.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today approved a draft resolution renewing its support for the United Nations internal justice system set up in 2009 to resolve disputes for tens of thousands of employees worldwide.
With more than two dozen speakers and the heads of two of the world’s ocean and sea authorities proclaiming the crucial importance of healthy oceans and seas to coastal and landlocked States alike, the General Assembly today adopted a resolution on sustainable fisheries without a vote while deferring action on a draft text on oceans and the Law of the Sea.
The General Assembly today, closely following the recommendation of its First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), where delegates increased their participation in debates by 40 per cent from last year, adopted 57 draft resolutions and decisions — 23 on nuclear weapons — requiring 29 recorded votes in all, including on separate provisions.
The General Assembly would underline the instrumental role of agricultural technology in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development under the terms of a draft resolution approved by a recorded vote today by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial), which also took action by consensus on six other texts as well as a draft decision.
Confronting an increasingly polarized world where religious intolerance, discrimination, xenophobia, conflict and the emergence of new extremist ideologies abounded, the General Assembly today adopted, without a vote, two resolutions that stressed the advancement of a culture of peace and non-violence based on education, tolerance, dialogue and cooperation.
International partners must work collectively to increase buy-in by parties to the recent peace agreement in South Sudan, the head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council today, stressing the need to support activities to put an end to the “senseless conflict” in that country.
Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today called for urgent action to meet the future office space requirements of thousands of United Nations staff members currently in off-campus leased buildings in New York, warning about the high price tag of inaction.
Gains made in the areas of human rights and development contrasted sharply with the volatile and deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, the General Assembly heard today from three dozen speakers as the 193-member body took up the situation in that country.
Culminating a session that saw intense debate on a range of issues, from the rights of the child to States’ responsibilities to protect refugees, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) concluded its work today, approving a draft resolution on human rights defenders, which will be included in a package of 62 texts expected to be taken up by the General Assembly in December.
