Voicing strong commitment to international cooperation, delegates in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today stressed the importance of sharing space technology for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, while commending the effectiveness and relevance of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
Underscoring the important contribution of the International Law Commission to the progressive development and codification of international law, the Commission’s Chair says it also offers adequate answers to the new challenges faced by the international community, as the Sixth Committee (Legal) concluded today its debate on the third cluster of topics of the Commission’s annual report.
Outer space is facing severe security challenges, with certain countries declaring it a war-fighting domain, accelerating their space military capability build-up and heightening the risk of an arms race, the representative of China told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) in its thematic debate today.
Welcoming progress made towards peace across Colombia amid the Government’s outreach efforts with women, youth and ethnic groups, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia for one year to monitor and verify implementation of a ceasefire between the Government and armed groups.
The Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine continues to inflict suffering on civilians, as well as inflame regional and global tensions, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as speakers voiced alarm over the reported military cooperation between Moscow and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), with troops from Pyongyang expected to participate in ground operations.
The General Assembly today reiterated its call on the United States to end its economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba, as Cuba’s Minister for Foreign Affairs called the blockade against his Government “commercial warfare” and “a crime of genocide”.
Underlining the importance of consolidating peace and security gains in Somalia, the Security Council today decided that the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) shall be called the United Nations Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia and that the latter Mission shall begin formal transition of its functions from 1 November.
“The world is not powerless” in countering the threat posed by the military junta in Myanmar, an independent human rights expert told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, urging States to impose sanctions on the regime and denounce its ‘fraudulent’ election to be held in 2025.
As the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) began its consideration of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, delegates underscored the fragility and mystery of that realm, calling for cooperation in preserving its peacefulness and harnessing the potential of space technologies.
Concluding their debate on the second cluster of topics from the International Law Commission’s annual report — and beginning discussion of the third — speakers in the Sixth Committee (Legal) today covered a wide variety of issues to which international law applies while also contemplating the sources that may inform such law in an expanding legal universe.
