Meetings Coverage

During the special meeting convened by the General Assembly today to weigh the report of the Human Rights Council on the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, Arab and Non-Aligned delegations praised the survey, saying it had “unmasked double standards” regarding Israel’s actions in Gaza, while Israel’s envoy said the entire debate was hypocritical and that the report had been “conceived in hate”.

The General Assembly, through elections and appointments, today filled several vacancies to subsidiary organs of the Assembly and other United Nations administrative and budgetary bodies, including the Committee on Conferences and the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU).

As the Sixth Committee today concluded its current consideration of the report of the International Law Commission, the representative of Trinidad and Tobago called for a study of State practice to determine whether the obligation to extradite or prosecute was a requirement from which there was no derogation, which he said would be a step towards combating impunity for crimes.

Five “mega-trends” -- population growth, urbanization, climate change, migration and food, water and energy insecurity –- made contemporary forms of displacement increasingly complex, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today.

The “success” of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the last 60 years could also be interpreted as a measure of the collective failure to resolve the political question that had led to the refugee crisis in the first place, Indonesia’s representative told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) as it continued its general debate on the work of that Agency this afternoon.

One out of every three people residing in cities around the globe lived in a slum, and unless the problem was dealt with, another 400 million people would join their ranks by 2020, Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today, as it continued its consideration of sustainable development.

Strengthening multilateralism and reframing the disarmament debate had advanced the present positive momentum and led to the approval of 54 key texts, more than half by consensus, bolstering treaties on nuclear test bans and arms control and halting the spread of nuclear weapons, the First Committee Chairman José Luis Cancela said today as the Committee wrapped up its sixty-fourth session.

The Sixth Committee today continued its consideration of the report of the International Law Commission by turning to the new topics of “obligation to extradite or prosecute”, “most-favoured-nations clause”, and “treaties over time”, while completing its debate on the last cluster.

Amid calls for a new collective security system in which no country felt the need to rely on nuclear weapons, General Assembly delegates today adopted a consensus resolution reaffirming their strong support for the International Atomic Energy Agency in encouraging the practical application of nuclear energy for peaceful uses.

The most immediate challenge facing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East was a funding shortfall that risked a suspension of essential services, the Agency’s head said this afternoon, as the Fourth Committee launched its annual consideration of the Agency’s work.