Speakers from Member States that host, or have hosted, United Nations peacekeeping missions voiced their suggestions for making the Organization’s flagship enterprise — marking its seventy-fifth anniversary this year — more effective in the face of increasingly complex challenges, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) wound up a three-day general debate on peacekeeping operations in all their aspects.

During a continued emergency session in the General Assembly this afternoon on the situation in the Middle East, many Member States mourned the thousands of children killed in Gaza, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire and for more humanitarian aid to reach civilians there.

In November, the Security Council will hold an open debate on promoting peace through sustainable development, while prioritizing urgent and meaningful action to address the ongoing conflict in Gaza, its President for the month told reporters at a Headquarters press conference today.

The Sixth Committee (Legal) continued its discussion of the third cluster of topics from the International Law Commission’s annual report today, as delegates debated the weight that should be accorded to the decisions of international courts and tribunals in the context of the body’s work on “Subsidiary means for the determination of rules of international law”.

Even if an algorithm can determine what is legal under international humanitarian law, it can never determine what is ethical, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today after it approved a new draft resolution on lethal autonomous weapons systems (document A/C.1/78/L.56).

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that, on 31 October, 59 trucks carrying water, food and medicines entered through the Rafah crossing with Egypt. This is the largest convoy since delivery of aid resumed on 21 October, bringing the total number of trucks up to 217 since that date.

The responsibility to protect the world’s refugees continues to fall on countries in the Global South, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today, as delegates also discussed their respective visions for the Human Rights Council.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Nepalese Parliament, in Kathmandu today:

As multiplying conflicts drive forced displacement worldwide, States must step up their support or risk the humanitarian system’s collapse, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates stressed the need to address root causes of displacement, share responsibility for refugees and find lasting solutions for the uprooted.

Keeping peace in an increasingly polarized and dangerous world requires clear mandates, adequate resources and stronger cooperation with local stakeholders and regional organizations, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today as its general debate on all aspects of United Nations peacekeeping operations continued.