During a meeting characterized by impassioned pleas, calls for justice and appeals to rationale, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard testimony on Western Sahara for a second day in an effort to find a solution to the Territory’s 40-year pursuit of self-determination.
Delegates today called on a United Nations oversight body to boost its capacity to investigate corruption, mismanagement of resources and sexual abuse, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) began its examination of such functions, amid fraud allegations involving a former General Assembly President.
The fight against terrorism began in the building of peaceful and inclusive societies and effective and accountable institutions, as well as an international comprehensive convention, the Sixth Committee (Legal) heard today.
Small arms and light weapons resulted in devastating consequences for civilians, particularly women and children, and their lucrative trafficking and unregulated proliferation made them easily obtainable, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today during its general debate.
The Security Council today outlined sweeping actions to improve implementation of its landmark women, peace and security agenda, covering its work on countering violent extremism and terrorism, improving working methods and broadly taking up the gender recommendations of a just-completed global study it had requested two years ago.
As the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met today to consider poverty eradication, delegates debated the merits of rural and industrial development in achieving that.
The new Sustainable Development Goals could not be achieved without full and equal rights for all women, top United Nations officials told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as it began its discussion on the advancement of women with an interactive debate.
Transition from the Millennium Development Goals to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development required support tailored to “our changing needs and priorities”, the representative of Maldives told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) as it took up its agenda item on operational activities today.
Despite multifaceted international efforts, speakers in the Sixth Committee (Legal) today noted with alarm the growth of terrorist groups, stressing that if measures diverged from the norms of international law, the crisis would only worsen.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today heard United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon formally unveil an initial budget proposal of $5.57 billion for the 2016-2017 budget cycle that begins 1 January 2016. The proposal was down 1.6 per cent, or $90.8 million, from the appropriation for the current two-year budget cycle that ends in December and up $10.2 million, or 0.2 per cent, from the budget outline figure set by the General Assembly nearly a year ago.
