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.
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.
Delegates warned today against the politicization of public information and the targeting of journalists, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its general debate on questions relating to information.
Realizing the shared vision of “leaving no one behind” of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 is contingent on the international community’s ability to mobilize resources, transfer technology, and forgive debt, delegates told the General Assembly today.
Defending the strategic purposes of their arsenals, First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) delegates representing nuclear‑weapon States pointed at current geopolitical realities, while calling for the type of methodical approach to disarmament that has led to past successes.
Despite insecurity and violent extremism spreading across Mali’s borders, the United Nations peacekeeping chief cited reasons for hope, including Mali’s successful presidential elections, the signing of the new Pact for Peace and a drop in peacekeeper deaths, as he briefed the Security Council today.
With migrant numbers skyrocketing worldwide, speakers emphasized that group’s contribution to development as well as the need to recognize their qualifications, protect their rights and combat illegal trafficking, as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up globalization and interdependence today.
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 recent “shocking” case of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is only one of thousands of enforced disappearances and the international community must stand firm in denouncing such crimes, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today as it continued its debate on human rights.
