The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The heads of three United Nations entities and the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today urged States to support a new political declaration to protect civilians from explosive weapons in populated areas.

​​​​​​​The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved six draft resolutions today addressing human rights questions on missing persons, extrajudicial executions, escalating refugees situations  and moratorium of the death penalty.

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), completing its work for the main part of the General Assembly’s seventy-seventh session, approved six draft resolutions plus one draft decision today, including texts that would renew the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

In Mozambique, the World Food Programme (WFP) warns it will be forced to suspend life-saving assistance, particularly in Cabo Delgado province, to 1 million people — at the peak of the hunger season in February — unless it urgently receives $51 million more in funding.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ opening remarks to the twelfth Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-United Nations Summit, in Phnom Penh, today:

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved nine draft resolutions today covering human rights issues ranging from mercenaries to the right to food, as well as the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls.

Urging support for regional organizations and sustainable financing to counter terrorism in Africa, the Deputy Secretary-General stressed that the spread of terrorism is a concern for the entire international community and requires a preventive approach that includes respect for human rights and international law, as the Security Council held a high-level debate on counter-terrorism in Africa today.

Several delegates voiced support today for the General Assembly to request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, as the as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its general debate on Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories.

​​​​​​​The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today approved two resolutions, voting on both, including one demanding that Israel cease the exploitation, damage, cause of loss or depletion and endangerment of the natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in the occupied Syrian Golan.