General Assembly delegates today extended the Organization’s support and sympathy to the Government and people of Pakistan with the unanimous adoption of a resolution that emphasizes the need to help the South-East Asian nation rebuild from devastating rains that left a third of the country under water.
A holistic approach, combining enhanced regulatory policies and law enforcement mechanisms, greater supply chain transparency, support for counter‑terrorism frameworks, as well as cross-border coordination and information-sharing, is required to clamp down on the illicit trafficking of natural resources and its fuelling of terrorism and violent extremism by armed groups and terrorists in African continent, speakers said during a debate on the issue, one of the signature events of Gabon’s presidency.
Speakers underscored the importance of international cooperation in ensuring criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission, while also highlighting pre-deployment training and the role of women peacekeepers in preventing acts of sexual exploitation and abuse, as the Sixth Committee took up the Secretary-General’s reports on the matter.
Delegates stressed the need to address barriers to women’s human rights and empowerment, including female genital mutilation, obstetric fistula, gaps in female political representation and limited access to economic production, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) continued its debate today on the advancement of women.
The persistent question of Western Sahara took centre stage in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today as petitioners from both sides presented differing positions regarding that Non-Self-Governing Territory’s relationship with Morocco.
It was deeply disturbing that nuclear-weapon States and States under extended nuclear‑deterrence guarantees had increased the salience of nuclear weapons in their security and nuclear doctrines, policies and postures, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its general debate.
The world is in the midst of multidimensional macroeconomic crises and urgently requires reform of the international financial system to ensure COVID‑19 recovery and sustainable development, United Nations experts and Member States warned today as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up the issue.
The ballistic missile launch of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on 4 October was a reckless act and a clear violation of Security Council resolutions, a United Nations senior political and peacebuilding official told the Security Council today, as members demanded that Pyongyang refrain from further provocations, engage in meaningful dialogue and halt its nuclear and missiles programmes.
Against a backdrop of new political developments in some Non-Self-Governing Territories, petitioners stressed the importance of listening to people’s voices as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its general debate on decolonization.
One year after elections were held, and three years after Iraqis took to the streets to protest a lack of political, economic and social prospects, the continuing absence of a functioning government is hard to justify, the senior United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today, while stressing the need for Iraq’s leaders — “all of them” — to engage in dialogue and “pull the country back from the ledge”.
