The General Assembly would establish two open-ended working groups related to the prevention of an arms race in outer space, according to overlapping draft resolutions approved today by the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), which had delegations warning that parallel processes would lead to further polarization and fragmentation of efforts to preserve space security.
The head of the UN refugee agency appealed to the Security Council today to call for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, emphasizing that there is urgent need for its 15 members to overcome their differences, unite and resolve a raft of conflicts which have displaced staggering 114 million people around the world.
Following the Secretary-General’s strategic review of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), the Security Council today extended until 31 October 2024 the Mission’s mandate and tasks, as set out in resolutions 2158 (2014) and 2592 (2021).
Detailing the death and destruction in the nearly two-year war in Ukraine, a senior UN official urged all parties to spare all civilians and civilian objects and facilitate the swift and unhindered provision of humanitarian relief during his briefing to the Security Council today, emphasizing that what Ukrainians need, above all, is an end to the devastating war.
Civilians in Gaza must not be the target of collective punishment, speakers told the Security Council today, as calls for a ceasefire gained greater urgency amid the intensification of Israel’s lethal military offensive into the besieged enclave, following the 7 October attacks by the armed group Hamas against that country.
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today began its general debate on United Nations peacekeeping operations, which mark their seventy-fifth anniversary this year, with senior UN officials and delegates alike calling for greater safety and security for blue helmets and a greater role for women in the 12 missions deployed worldwide.
Despite intimidation, cyberattacks and a heavy caseload, the International Criminal Court will not be deterred from its work, including helping victims get restitution, its President stressed, as the General Assembly today took up the Court’s annual report.
Immediate de-escalation and a refocus on a credible political process that respects Syria’s sovereignty is urgently needed, said the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the country during his briefing today to the Security Council, emphasizing that the spillover into Syria of the violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory has already begun.
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for another year, calling on the parties to resume negotiations to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution for the region.
The General Assembly would reaffirm its condemnation in the strongest possible terms of the use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances, according to a draft resolution approved today by the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), as it continued to take action on 61 draft resolutions and decisions before it.
