Figures released today by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan show record-high levels of civilian casualties in the country during the third quarter of 2019, including 2,563 killed and 5,676 injured, a 42 per cent increase from the same period in 2018.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres welcomes today’s decision by the General Assembly to approve Fatoumata Ndiaye of Senegal as Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) for a five-year non-renewable term.

The General Assembly today elected 14 States to the Human Rights Council, the United Nations body responsible for promoting and protecting all human rights around the globe.

Amid rising antisemitism and violent extremism worldwide, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and the United Nations Department of Global Communications will organize a joint event on 18 October to call on Member States and all stakeholders to invest in and strengthen education to tackle and prevent antisemitism.

Renaming the Department of Global Communications was a reflection of a shift in the way in which the United Nations approaches communications, the departmental head told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today after it approved three draft resolutions on decolonization issues before taking up questions relating to information.

An increase in enforced disappearances, anti-Semitic incidents, and deaths of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean were among the concerns addressed in briefings to the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates engaged with human rights experts in interactive dialogues.

With signs of hope appearing on the horizon in Yemen, warring parties must cease hostilities, facilitate food and fuel distribution and relaunch talks aimed at ending the world’s most severe humanitarian crisis, United Nations officials said today as they briefed the Security Council on recent developments.

Ensuring the protection of human rights in counter‑terrorism instruments, tackling contemporary threats to judicial independence, and the role of multinational forums in fostering a more equitable world order were among the topics addressed in briefings to the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates engaged with experts in lively interactive dialogues.

Amid a crumbling foundation of the international disarmament and non‑proliferation architecture, efforts must focus on returning to a multilateral path towards the commonly shared goal of a world without nuclear weapons, delegates said, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) continued its general debate.

The General Assembly today paid tribute to the President of its fiftieth session, Diogo Freitas do Amaral of Portugal, who passed away on 3 October at age 78, with Secretary-General António Guterres praising him as “a renowned jurist, brilliant scholar, and a public servant of the highest order” who played a key role in his country’s democratic process.