Meetings Coverage

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) approved two draft resolutions today as it concluded its general debate on questions relating to information.

Voicing concerns about the erosion of confidence in nuclear disarmament and international security in the Euro‑Atlantic area, First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) delegates today called attention to a United States decision to pull out of the Intermediate‑Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, as they concluded a thematic discussion on nuclear weapons.

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) took up the report of the International Law Commission, speakers tackled the first of three clusters of topics, commending progress made while highlighting the working methods of the Commission and underscoring the importance of including the international legal implications of sea‑level rise in its future programme of work.

Women and girls with disabilities face grave violations of sexual and reproductive rights, including forced abortions and sterilizations, Catalina Devandas, Special Rapporteur on the topic, told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates engaged her and other mandate holders on how best to promote and protect human rights.

Least developed nations are not entirely on track to attain the Sustainable Development Goals or eradicate poverty, speakers heard as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up groups of countries in special situations today.

While welcoming the overall financial soundness of the United Nations, delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) meeting today expressed concern about the moderate pace of carrying out recommendations by the Organization’s main auditing body, hiring practices and the finances of the United Nations agency serving Palestine refugees.

Ahead of the planned drawdown of the joint African Union and United Nations peacekeeping operation in Darfur, the head of that mission set out before the Security Council today a concept for continuing international support for the consolidation of stability in that troubled western region of Sudan.

The world has been fundamentally reordered by widespread neoliberal economics that has privatized basic public goods — social protections, education, pensions and criminal justice among them — with often disastrous impacts on the human rights of the extremely poor, experts told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today.

The Economic and Social Council today elected, by acclamation, Valentin Rybakov (Belarus) from the Eastern European States as Vice‑President for the 2019 session, completing its Bureau.

With the increasing complexity of international law and a growing need for legal education, the Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law – funded by the United Nations regular budget - was fulfilling its important mandate by offering high‑quality legal training through its Regional Courses, publications and the Audiovisual Library, the Sixth Committee (Legal) heard today as it began its consideration of the Programme.