Meetings Coverage

Given the current “renaissance of nuclear energy”, Member States and other users were ever more eager to evaluate risk and establish appropriate safety and protection standards over radiation levels from energy production and exposure to nuclear installations, and to assess the consequences on human health and the environment, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it began its consideration of the effects of atomic radiation.

Given its stagnant food production and rising levels of malnourishment, Africa would not be able to feed itself unless the outside world helped with money and technology to spur agriculture across the continent, Malawi’s representative told the Second Committee today as it considered agriculture development and food security.

The Presidents of the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court told the General Assembly today they had made great progress in their work promoting the rule of law and confronting impunity, while Assembly delegates noted the growing complexity of their cases and increased workload, and pushed for the judicial bodies to receive more human and financial resources.

As the Sixth Committee continued its consideration of the report of the International Law Commission today, the Special Rapporteur responded to comments by delegates on the draft articles and the Guide to Practice on the question of “reservations to treaties”.

A shortage of critical equipment required to carry out United Nations mandates in many peacekeeping missions had created a “yawning gap” between expectations and performance in the flagship mission that delegates maintained was already overburdened, underfunded, and overstretched, the Fourth Committee heard today, as it concluded its annual debate on peacekeeping.

After hearing from a wide variety of United Nations human rights experts over the past week, the Third Committee, today, continued its general discussion on promoting human rights, with 38 speakers taking the floor to describe national efforts to promote human rights and to address the effectiveness of the Human Rights Council and special procedures.

A vigorous nuclear disarmament text recognizing that “the time is now opportune for all nuclear-weapon States to take effective disarmament measures to achieve the total elimination of these weapons at the earliest possible time” was forwarded to the General Assembly today, 1 of 12 draft resolutions approved by the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).

If managed effectively, migration could be greatly beneficial to countries of both origin and destination, the Second Committee heard today as it began its consideration of international migration and development.

Examining the issues involved in objections to treaties as related to State succession would be a useful contribution to the future settlement of State succession issues, Slovenia’s representative said today as the Sixth Committee (Legal) continued its annual consideration of the report of the International Law Commission with a focus on draft guidelines on objections to treaties and other matters, including the Commission’s work methods.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today heard Secretariat officials unveil a set of recommendations that would move the United Nations a step closer to unifying the conditions of service for thousands of staff members around the world and carry an initial price tag of tens of millions of dollars.