With only six years remaining to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world is on track to achieve only 17 per cent of targets, requiring urgent action to correct that trajectory for developing countries, speakers warned the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today as it took up that crucial issue.
Calling attention to the debt distress, food insecurity and violent conflict plaguing Africa, speakers in the General Assembly today called for heightened multilateral efforts to support the continent as it pursues a transformational agenda.
Multilateralism is “currently in decline and is unable to respond effectively to security crises or the pressing challenges facing humanity”, the representative of Senegal told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today as its wide-ranging debate continues.
Briefing the Security Council on the heels of the firing of Israeli forces on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon earlier in the day, senior UN officials warned of a dangerous uptick in violence in the Middle East, as delegates echoed their calls for a ceasefire, de-escalation and diplomacy.
Continuing their consideration of crimes against humanity, Sixth Committee (Legal) delegates today debated whether to commence negotiations towards a legally binding international instrument based on the International Law Commission’s draft articles on the prevention and punishment of such crimes, with many ready to do so even as some expressed reservations and noted a continuing divergence of views.
Speakers urged accountability today for the staggering number of child casualties in armed conflicts across the Middle East, Africa, Ukraine, Myanmar and beyond, and other violations such as child marriage and labour, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural) began its discussion on children’s rights.
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today heard the last of more than 200 petitioners who had registered to speak during this session on the situations in the 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Faced with mounting debt, rising financial constraints, dwindling foreign investment and illicit financial flows, speakers in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) urged international actors to address and reverse pernicious obstacles to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The First Committee is in a position to shoulder its mission and deliver on its words, the representative of Côte d’Ivoire asserted today, as the general debate continued with a wide-ranging focus on mitigating the crises underpinning a deteriorating security environment.
The Sixth Committee on Legal Affairs began its debate on crimes against humanity Wednesday, 9 October, in the afternoon, half a day ahead of the announced programme of work.
