Young Palestine refugees continued to face unquantifiable challenges, including the risk of radicalization due to mounting insecurity and the frustration of unmet humanitarian needs as resulting from the lack of sustained and predictable funding, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as it took up the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for World Tsunami Awareness Day, observed on 5 November:

Continuing its review of third‑cluster topics from the International Law Commission’s report, Sixth Committee (Legal) delegates pointed to several aspects which they said needed further work or were cause for concern.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel, to an event organized by the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization, in New York today:

In marking the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, the Secretary-General said that attacks on journalists violate the human rights of individuals and undermines freedoms of information and expression across societies.  He notes that impunity, which makes this terrible situation worse, is rampant.

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its work today, sending 69 draft resolutions and decisions to the General Assembly for adoption.

Concerted efforts would be needed to avert any reversal of the commendable gains achieved in Africa’s Great Lakes region thus far, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy told the Security Council today.

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today introduced 14 draft resolutions, including a text underscoring the massive contribution of migration and human mobility to sustainable development.

The Government of Chile hosted a training course for the national Points of Contact of States in the Latin American and the Caribbean region from 24 to 28 October.

Urgent action was required to deal with the effects of El Niño, the General Assembly heard this morning as it discussed the phenomenon that devastates more than 60 million people a year and whose extreme weather events were predicted only to worsen in the future.