States and United Nations agencies must strengthen cooperation in addressing transnational crimes, human trafficking and the world drug problem while putting human beings at the heart of solutions to combat those threats, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today during its general discussion of crime prevention, criminal justice and international drug control.
As the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) continued its general debate today, African Member States, both least developed and middle-income, stressed the need to implement a new development agenda “without the burden of the past”, as they called on wealthy nations to restructure debt.
Members of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today called on each other to work together this session as they tackled a complex and ambitious agenda that included the Organization’s two‑year multi‑billion‑dollar budget for 2016-2017 and whether to re-adjust the methodology used over the next three years to assess Member States’ contribution to the regular budget as well as its peacekeeping operations.
Education was a human right, the cornerstone of critical thinking and the bedrock of a sustainable future, youth representatives told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today as it concluded its general discussion on social development.
With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the international community’s focus must shift from “what” to “how”, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) heard today as it began its general debate for the seventieth session.
The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) met today in a brief organizational meeting to adopt its agenda and work programme for the seventieth General Assembly session.
The mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) had not yet been fulfilled, Martin Kobler, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the Mission told the Security Council today, stressing that “we have a duty and responsibility to ensure that the Congo is secure and stable, and that the progress that has been attained thus far will be irreversible.”
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), in an organizational meeting today, approved its work programme for the new session, which covers topics ranging from international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space to the situations in the 17 territories remaining on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Tackling a range of issues threading through the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) began its work today, with speakers and youth delegates describing successes, challenges and concerns facing the international community in its push towards meeting the 2030 Agenda’s promises.
The path to peace in Mali was fraught with unexpected obstacles, and implementation of the peace agreement had been delayed by violations of the ceasefire agreements and actions by terrorist groups and trans-border criminal elements, Mongi Hamdi, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Mali and head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) told the Security Council this morning.
