Colombia’s peace process has set a global benchmark for the inclusion of women thanks to their strong advocacy for the implementation of gender provisions and meaningful participation in peace dialogues, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today. However, a feminist activist highlighted that only less than 13 per cent of the agreed gender provisions have been fully implemented, urging further efforts on that front.
The international community must tackle colonialism, not only in its old forms, but also in its new manifestations, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as delegates drew attention to the yearning for freedom in the 17 Territories that await the United Nations’ decolonization efforts as well as in other regions around the world.
Nearly half a billion children are now living in conflict zones worldwide, exposed to severe human rights violations, delegates told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural) today, calling for safe and unimpeded humanitarian access.
With only six years remaining to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world is on track to achieve only 17 per cent of targets, requiring urgent action to correct that trajectory for developing countries, speakers warned the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today as it took up that crucial issue.
Calling attention to the debt distress, food insecurity and violent conflict plaguing Africa, speakers in the General Assembly today called for heightened multilateral efforts to support the continent as it pursues a transformational agenda.
Multilateralism is “currently in decline and is unable to respond effectively to security crises or the pressing challenges facing humanity”, the representative of Senegal told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today as its wide-ranging debate continues.
Taking up the report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) today, speakers in the Sixth Committee (Legal) welcomed the Commission’s efforts to develop, harmonize and modernize international trade law and to build States’ capacity to participate in an increasingly digitized global system of commerce comprised of increasingly interdependent national economies.
Continuing their consideration of crimes against humanity, Sixth Committee (Legal) delegates today debated whether to commence negotiations towards a legally binding international instrument based on the International Law Commission’s draft articles on the prevention and punishment of such crimes, with many ready to do so even as some expressed reservations and noted a continuing divergence of views.
Speakers urged accountability today for the staggering number of child casualties in armed conflicts across the Middle East, Africa, Ukraine, Myanmar and beyond, and other violations such as child marriage and labour, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural) began its discussion on children’s rights.
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today heard the last of more than 200 petitioners who had registered to speak during this session on the situations in the 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories.
