Deeply frustrated at the current deadlocked disarmament machinery, delegates offered fresh suggestions on how best to re-activate it at a time when its guidance is urgently needed to ease escalating global tensions, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its thematic discussion on the matter today.
Briefers and delegations welcomed a growing strategic partnership between the African Union and the United Nations in matters of peace and security at the Security Council today, while calling for measures to bolster the effectiveness of that cooperation.
Emphasizing that the benefits of outer space must be accessible to all countries, regardless of their development level, delegates said today that they should not be restricted to those with space programmes, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) began its general debate on international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.
Delegates today set out their countries’ positions on a Middle East zone free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, the subject an upcoming conference at Headquarters, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its thematic discussion on regional disarmament and security.
Amid waning trust in multilateral institutions, the International Court of Justice remains a vital force for guarding and enhancing the rule of law at the international level, the General Assembly heard today, as speakers called on all States to accept the Court’s compulsory jurisdiction and ensure it is adequately funded.
The Security Council decided today to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for 12 months, until 31 October 2020.
Continuing its debate today on Cluster I from the report of the International Law Commission, Sixth Committee (Legal) delegates dissented on the Commission’s inclusion of dispute-settlement mechanisms and a non-exhaustive list in its draft conclusions on “Peremptory norms of general international law (jus cogens)”. (For background, see Press Releases GA/L/3605 and GA/L/3606.)
Some 71 million people are now displaced globally owing to conflict, violence and persecution, and the number continues to rise, Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates discussed challenges and roadblocks to building a more inclusive, equitable, and non‑discriminatory world.
Free, peaceful and transparent elections in 2020 are key to a stable future in Burundi, the Security Council heard today, as members diverged on whether the country — now emerging from its 2015 political crisis — still merits a place on the organ’s agenda.
While delegates largely agreed that new universal legally binding regulations must tackle new and emerging security threats online and in outer space, they exchanged divergent views on how best to do so amid an environment of eroding international trust in both domains, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) continued its thematic debates on these and other issues.
