The General Assembly today elected 23 members to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and one member to the Economic and Social Council, while appointing members of the Committee on Conferences and the Joint Inspection Unit.
Following the Sixth Committee’s (Legal) concluding deliberations on the second cluster of topics from the annual report of the International Law Commission, the Chairman of that body introduced topics from the third and final cluster, before delegates embarked on their debate of those matters.
In support of United Nations development activities, primarily covering 2015, 16 countries pledged approximately $77 million today at a Headquarters event. The amount represented a dramatic decline in comparison to pledges in 2014 of $560 million.
The International Criminal Court should be properly funded, particularly when it came to cases referred to it by the Security Council, the General Assembly heard today, as it concluded its debate on the Court’s report.
Determined to achieve the effective prohibition of the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and their destruction, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today approved a draft resolution on the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention that would reaffirm the obligation of States parties to destroy their stockpiles.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today recommended personnel appointments to fill upcoming vacancies in the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) and two other bodies that help the 193 delegates manage the United Nations vast human resources and its finances.
Against the backdrop of an increasingly “grim” and “complex” global security landscape, special political missions — with their rapid, nimble and tailored approaches — were a key part of the United Nations peace operations toolbox, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it took up the matter in a half-day debate.
Trafficking and targeted violations against women, indigenous peoples and other groups were among the national, regional and global concerns delegates raised as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) concluded its discussion on the promotion and protection of human rights, introduced 14 draft resolutions and approved, without a vote, 6 texts on issues ranging from counter-terrorism to efforts to end gender-based violence.
Libya’s leaders had a unique opportunity to reach a political settlement that would spare their people further bloodshed, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in that country told the Security Council today, emphasizing that the recently negotiated Political Agreement sought to create a viable middle ground upon which all stakeholders could meet.
