Among the gravest threats today, the widespread circulation of conventional weapons, including shipments reaching terrorist groups operating in vulnerable regions, was killing thousands of people and affecting millions more, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its general debate.
Obscene amounts were being spent on military budgets and to maintain and modernize nuclear weapons at the expense of such pressing global issues as sustainable development, climate change and the refugee crisis, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today.
For the sake of humanity and the planet, Member States must ensure that disarmament efforts supported, rather than thwarted, global economic and social development, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as its general debate continued.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea defended its nuclear weapons programme before the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today, with its representative saying his Government had no option but to build a nuclear deterrent in response to threats from the United States.
Even amidst a shifting global paradigm, established rules and norms that the world had patiently built over decades continued to play a vital role in disarmament efforts, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its general debate.
Speakers in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) called for more robust efforts to revive stalled disarmament processes, with some discussing whether the General Assembly should launch negotiations that would lead to a worldwide nuclear-weapon ban.
Flexibility and creativity were needed in order to find common ground and move past recent setbacks across the disarmament landscape, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today, opening its general debate.
The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) met today for a brief organizational meeting to adopt its agenda and work programme for the seventy-first session of the General Assembly.
Sabri Boukadoum, Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations, was elected Chair of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) on 13 June 2016 (see Press Release GA/11791).
Determined to achieve the effective prohibition of the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and their destruction, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today approved a draft resolution on the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention that would reaffirm the obligation of States parties to destroy their stockpiles.
