The President of Human Rights Council urged Governments to ensure that efforts to protect fundamental freedoms existed “not just in words, but in practice”, as he presented his annual report to the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural) today.
Delegates detailed their country’s efforts regarding radiation safety, urging sufficient resourcing for the Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) approved a draft resolution on the effects of atomic radiation and another on special political missions.
Sending a total of 58 draft resolutions and decisions to the General Assembly, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today concluded its seventy‑second session with the approval of a draft on the implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and of Their Destruction.
The committee charged with providing an open forum for delegations to bring their concerns about relations between the United States as host country and the United Nations community had tackled matters of immunities awarded to mission premises and travel restrictions on diplomatic staff, its Chair told the Sixth Committee (Legal) today, as it took up that body’s report.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budget) today considered the Secretariat’s request for a subvention of $10.4 million to keep the international component of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia running smoothly in 2018.
Following is UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ message for the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, observed today, 2 November:
While some speakers welcomed the Human Rights Council’s efforts to investigate alleged violations in countries ranging from Myanmar to South Sudan to Yemen, others voiced concern that selectivity had begun to creep into its agenda and working methods, as the General Assembly began its annual consideration of the 11‑year‑old intergovernmental body.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) welcomed Myanmar’s commitment to implement recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported slower rates of refugees entering Bangladesh.
The number of forcibly displaced people around the world was now approaching 66 million, and that sharp rise reflected the weakness of international cooperation in responding to the crisis, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told the Security Council today.
Approving 17 draft resolutions and 1 draft decision, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) voted on a range of measures, including one that would have the General Assembly give urgent consideration to conventional arms control issues at the regional and subregional levels.
