With crimes against humanity multiplying around the world, States must push forward toward — and not back away from — universal support for the International Criminal Court, the General Assembly heard today, as it considered the latest annual report of the Hague-based judicial body.
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Joint Investigative Mechanism, the body mandated to determine responsibility for the use of chemical weapons in Syria, until 18 November.
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.
While the findings of the 2013 report on Japan’s 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident remained valid, the long-term incidence of cancer among its victims required further consideration, speakers said today, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) approved a draft resolution on the effects of atomic radiation.
Regional commissions had a long-established role in guiding development policy and analysis in their parts of the world, and each faced its own challenges to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Member States heard as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) held a dialogue on the topic of “One Year of SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals]: Where the Regions Are”.
Experts on the human rights situations in Myanmar and Iran, as well as on thematic topics such as trafficking in persons, were among those presenting reports to the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates began general debate on those reports and introduced five draft resolutions on other aspects of social development.
Delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) urged the Secretariat to ensure the United Nations staff reflected the diversity of Member States as it better managed thousands of employees around the world and helped them carry out the Organization’s crucial mandates.
The United Nations was committed to strengthening its partnership with regional organizations in Eurasia and Central Asia on peace and security matters, even though their strategies may sometimes differ, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council today.
The protection of the environment was increasingly becoming an important concern, both on the international stage and in the disputes brought before the International Court of Justice, the President of that body told the Sixth Committee today.
