Refugees were at the centre of political attention for the first time in decades, the new United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today as it began its general debate on humanitarian questions.
Continuing its review of third‑cluster topics from the International Law Commission’s report, Sixth Committee (Legal) delegates pointed to several aspects which they said needed further work or were cause for concern.
Israel’s expanding settlements constituted blatant symbols of its occupation and threatened the viability of a prospective two-State solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today.
Delegates of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today backed the Secretary-General’s $40.02 million project plan to retrofit the premises of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), as part of their discussion on upgrades of Commission buildings in Bangkok and Addis Ababa.
Speakers pointed to the legally complex and politically sensitive nature of the work of the International Law Commission (ILC) during its sixty‑eighth session, as the Sixth Committee (Legal) continued its review of the Commission’s annual report.
The Security Council this afternoon welcomed the election of the new President of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, urging him and other leaders to swiftly form a new Government and take other steps to promote the country’s stability.
The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today sent 25 draft resolutions and 1 draft decision to the General Assembly, among them one that would pave the way for the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.
Fifteen years since the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, racism and xenophobia were on the rise worldwide, four independent experts told the Third Committee today as delegates opened discussions on ending prejudice and derogatory perceptions of superiority dating to the colonial era and the transatlantic slave trade.
While conflict, climate change and chaotic migration had reinforced the world’s need for the United Nations human rights machinery, that system was at risk of abuse due to the many pressures arising from concurrent crises, delegates warned the Third Committee today (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), as they debated the Organization’s special procedures and mandates today.
The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen told the Security Council today that he had presented the parties with a comprehensive road map to end the conflict, consistent with Security Council resolution 2216 (2015), the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism, and the Outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference.
