Facing limited resources and expanding responsibilities, the Department of Public Information was striving to make the best use of its tools to fulfil its mandate and address new challenges such as coverage of the Ebola outbreak, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today, as it began its annual consideration of questions relating to information.
Forensic science played a key role regarding the obligation of States to investigate and prosecute allegations of torture or other ill-treatment, a special rapporteur said today, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) began its discussion on human rights.
Faced with new challenges in protecting diplomatic and consular missions and representatives, speakers today called upon Member States to ensure compliance with the Vienna Conventions, as the Sixth Committee (Legal) today considered effective measures to enhance the protection, security and safety of those entities.
Preparations for the Third Conference on Financing for Development had proceeded in a “positive spirit”, the representative of Ethiopia today told delegates in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) during discussions on Financing for Development and the international financial system and development.
An unimplemented Nuclear-Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was nothing but a “place-holder” for disarmament that told States to “insert effective measures for nuclear disarmament here”, heard members of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today during a thematic debate on nuclear weapons.
The $5.4 billion in pledges from some 50 countries at a recent donor conference for Gaza’s reconstruction must quickly materialize into assistance on the ground, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council today.
The Security Council this morning this morning extended the authorization of the European Union operation in the Central African Republic until 15 March 2015.
The General Assembly today elected 15 States to serve on the Human Rights Council, the United Nations body responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide.
Marking the 150th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, speakers in today’s Sixth Committee (Legal) debate urged Member States to ratify the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts, with the aim of strengthening international humanitarian law.
As the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met to consider poverty eradication today, the representative of Benin, on behalf of the Group of Least Developed Countries, told delegates that the United Nations should make it its “utmost priority” to help such countries to “bridge the capacity gap” in the face of the extreme challenges they faced.
