Meetings Coverage

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) of the United Nations General Assembly held its first meeting of the seventy‑sixth session today, introducing the Bureau and approving its organization of work.

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) met for a brief organizational meeting today, approving its agenda and work programme for the seventy‑sixth session of the General Assembly.

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) approved today its work programme for the seventy‑sixth session of the General Assembly, which covers topics ranging from decolonization of the 17 remaining Non‑Self‑Governing Territories and United Nations peacekeeping operations, to the plight of Palestine refugees and Israel’s practices in the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) opened its seventy-sixth session today, with delegates emphasizing the importance of protecting the most vulnerable groups — women, children, older persons, indigenous people and minorities among them — as the pandemic continued to claim lives and livelihoods around the globe.

The Security Council today extended until 31 January 2022 the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) as an integrated special political mission, following the previously agreed 15‑day technical rollover.

Acting unanimously today, the Security Council renewed for another year its authorization for Member States to inspect vessels outside of Libya’s territorial waters, when there are reasonable grounds to believe they are participating in acts of migrant smuggling and human trafficking.

International efforts to establish a political horizon that can end the occupation of Palestinian territory and achieve a two-State solution must be re-energized, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process said today, as Security Council members took stock of developments following the formation of a new Government in Israel in June.

There is need to galvanize action to swiftly and permanently rid the world of atomic bombs, especially as the global community grapples with the coronavirus, delegates said today during the General Assembly’s high-level meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

With military front lines still largely frozen, the time is ripe to push for a political process that can help end the decade‑long war in Syria, the Secretary‑General’s Special Envoy for that country told the Security Council today, as speakers hailed news that negotiations aimed at crafting a fresh constitution look set to resume after an eight‑month hiatus.

Pointing out that, in 2016, Somalia reached a milestone with nearly a quarter of parliamentary seats occupied by women, the Deputy Secretary-General and speakers in the Security Council today called for a 30 per cent quota of legislative seats to be held for women in that country’s upcoming election.