The General Assembly today elected 18 members to the Human Rights Council for the 2025-2027 term, adopted a resolution on matters regarding the assessment scale for distributing the costs of the United Nations' expenses and concluded its debate on last month’s high-level meeting on antimicrobial resistance.
The Sixth Committee on Legal Affairs began its debate on crimes against humanity Wednesday, 9 October, in the afternoon, half a day ahead of the announced programme of work.
It is one of the most perilous times in world history — no less decisive than in 1945 when the UN was founded, the representative of Grenada told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today.
One year after Hamas’ attack on Israel and the resulting military response — now extending to Lebanon — senior UN officials warned the Security Council today that efforts to dismantle the United Nations’ presence in Gaza and its surrounds would be disastrous for the people in need there, as speakers urged the Council to act.
The global backlash against women’s and girls’ rights has reached extreme proportions in certain countries, threatening to undo decades of progress, experts told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates underlined the need to transform structures of inequality and discrimination.
The world is at a “delicate crossroads” with crises and conflicts raging in many regions,” General Assembly President Philémon Yang told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) during its wide-ranging debate, adding that the challenges before delegations is “immense”.
Highlighting persistent roadblocks and hindrances to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), speakers stressed the need to mitigate the devastating impacts of climate change, build economic resilience, boost financing and forgive crippling debt, as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) continued its general debate today.
The security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo remains alarming, with the 23 March Movement (M23) rebel group and other armed groups intensifying the conflict and deepening the humanitarian situation, the UN’s top official in the region informed the Security Council today.
General Assembly President Philémon Yang (Cameroon) urged Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) delegates today to adopt a realistic, implementable budget for 2025 by year’s end, ideally well before the set deadline, and to plead with their respective capitals to pay their assessed contributions in full, on time and without conditions.
The situation in Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, took centre stage today in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) as petitioners from both sides shared conflicting accounts of the human rights situation in the Territory.
