The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) met today in an organizational meeting but refrained from adopting its agenda and programme of work for the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly after the Russian Federation protested the refusal by the United States, the host country, to issue visas to members of its delegation.
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) approved today its work programme for the seventy‑fourth session of the General Assembly, covering the decolonization of the 17 remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories, peacekeeping operations, the plight of Palestine refugees and Israel’s practices affecting the human rights of Palestinians and other Arabs in the occupied territories, among several other agenda items.
The proliferation of new technology complicates the fight against transnational organized crime, especially illicit drug trafficking and cybercrime, delegates told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today during their annual debate on crime prevention, cybersecurity and international drug control.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) continued its debate on social development today, with youth delegates demanding greater access to education and job opportunities, as well as a voice in decisions that will help them overcome entrenched marginalization.
Youth activists from Africa, sharing stories of hardship and determination and of choosing peace over conflict, called for the engagement and inclusion of millions of their peers in building a fairer, more peaceful future on the continent, as the Security Council today debated how to mobilize young people towards the African Union initiative “Silencing the Guns by 2020”.
The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) of the United Nations General Assembly held its first meeting of the seventy‑fourth session today, introducing its Bureau and approving its organization of work.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) opened its session today, with delegates underscoring the need to focus on the world’s most vulnerable groups — including youth, older persons and people living with disabilities — in order to achieve true social development.
Sketching out the contours of a newly agreed Constitutional Committee for Syria today, the senior United Nations official in that country urged all parties there, as well as Security Council members, to seize that new development as a “sign of hope for the long-suffering Syrian people”.
Multilateral cooperation remains an accepted and reliable method of managing relations between States, the President of the General Assembly emphasized today at the conclusion of the general debate of the seventy‑fourth session, as Member States exchanged their views on how to mobilize such collaboration to resolve conflict and achieve sustainable development.
The world needs stronger multilateralism to tackle its toughest challenges, from climate change and poverty eradication to abuses of human rights and arms proliferation, but its efforts cannot be at the expense of respect for national sovereignty, a bedrock principle of the Charter of the United Nations, speakers emphasized today as the General Assembly continued its annual general debate.
