In the face of ongoing multidimensional crises, the five Regional Commissions of the United Nations system are more critical than ever in halting lost gains and urgently putting developing States back on the right track, the heads of those bodies told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today sent the General Assembly for its adoption a draft resolution that would appropriate $131.345 million from the 2022 programme budget to run the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
As the Sixth Committee (Legal) began its consideration of the International Law Commission report today, speakers tackled the first of three clusters of topics, including the chapters on “Peremptory norms of general international law (jus cogens)”, “Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts”, “Introductory Chapters” and “Other decisions and conclusions of the Commission”.
Syria must respond urgently to complete all outstanding issues on the elimination of its chemical weapons programme in line with international law, the United Nations disarmament chief told the Security Council today, citing the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Technical Secretariat’s evaluation that the country’s declarations still have not advanced.
Against the backdrop of political stalemate and a worsening security and humanitarian situation, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, briefing the Security Council today, called on all parties to protect civilians and to strive for a complete nationwide ceasefire as the Syrian people inch towards another winter surrounded by armed conflict.
Speakers highlighted the need for democratic rule in Myanmar, an end to extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) continued its interactive dialogues on human rights.
The Middle East could not continue to sit idly by with its hands tied while ignoring the severity of the region’s deteriorating security situation, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today, as it concluded its thematic debate on regional security and started consideration of the disarmament aspects of outer space.
A prolonged stalemate over the executive branch of Government and lack of concrete action by relevant actors are further delaying the prospects for the holding of inclusive, free and fair elections in Libya, the senior United Nations official in that country told the Security Council today, noting that its political impasse has adversely impacted the security situation.
Conventional arms, the so-called “weapons of limited destruction”, claimed hundreds of thousands of lives around the globe each year, and their horrendous impact was widespread and devastating for humanity, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today, concluding its thematic debate on conventional weapons and opening its discussion on other disarmament measures and international security, as well as on regional security.
While pandemics and wars are devastating events, they are transient distractions compared to the magnitude of extreme poverty, grotesque inequality and environmental catastrophes that threaten our future, United Nations experts told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), as delegates continued their debate on human rights today, holding a series of dialogues.
