Meetings Coverage and Press Releases

In progress at UNHQ

Uptick in Military Coups, Armaments Race Rapidly Setting Back Clock on Women’s Rights, Secretary-General Warns Security Council, at Start of Day-Long Debate

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Uptick in Military Coups, Armaments Race Rapidly Setting Back Clock on Women’s Rights, Secretary-General Warns Security Council, at Start of Day-Long Debate

Warning that an “avalanche of crises”, including an uptick in military coups and armament races, is rapidly setting back the clock on women’s rights, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, made a fervent call today to the Security Council to put women front and centre in peacebuilding efforts worldwide.

Secretary-General Notes Key Public Role in Decision-Making, Hails Tools to Protect Environmental Activists, at Meeting of Aarhus Convention Parties

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Secretary-General Notes Key Public Role in Decision-Making, Hails Tools to Protect Environmental Activists, at Meeting of Aarhus Convention Parties

Following is the text of Secretary-General António Guterres’ message to the joint high-level segment of the meetings of the Parties to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters and its Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers, in Geneva today:

Speakers Tackle Issues from Occupied Palestinian Territory to Language Parity, as Fourth Committee Continues General Debate

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Speakers Tackle Issues from Occupied Palestinian Territory to Language Parity, as Fourth Committee Continues General Debate

Delegates touched on a range of topics as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its general debate today, with some calling for collective action to end Israel’s impunity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and others urging the United Nations to redouble its efforts to achieve true multilingualism, especially in the wake of the COVID‑19 pandemic.

Legacies of Colonialism, Patriarchy, Neoliberalism Impede Access to Food, Water, Health Care for World’s Poor, Third Committee Hears as COVID 19 Exposes Gaps

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Legacies of Colonialism, Patriarchy, Neoliberalism Impede Access to Food, Water, Health Care for World’s Poor, Third Committee Hears as COVID 19 Exposes Gaps

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) continued its debate on human rights today, holding a series of dialogues with United Nations experts who called for a definitive break with exploitative systems that have left the world’s poorest without safe drinking water and healthy food, and struggling to avoid hazardous waste discharged by companies unconcerned by the planetary impact of their operations.

In Post-Pandemic World, Developing States Will Continue to Feel Effects of Crisis, Speaker Tells Second Committee, Economic and Social Council Joint Meeting

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In Post-Pandemic World, Developing States Will Continue to Feel Effects of Crisis, Speaker Tells Second Committee, Economic and Social Council Joint Meeting

Poorer nations will feel the full brunt of COVID‑19 as the crisis continues, suffering from rising hunger, poverty and heightened inequities, a United Nations official said today at a joint meeting of the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) and the Economic and Social Council on productive capacities and the post-pandemic world.

Letters to Somalia Covered Possible Adjustment of Arms Embargo, Sanctions Committee Chair Says, in Security Council Briefing

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Letters to Somalia Covered Possible Adjustment of Arms Embargo, Sanctions Committee Chair Says, in Security Council Briefing

The Security Council entity overseeing sanctions on Somalia sent two letters covering issues concerning possible adjustment of the arms embargo on that country, and measures to counter the funding of Al-Shabaab, its Chair said today, briefing on the subsidiary body’s work between 15 June and 20 October.

Residual Mechanism Advancing Remaining Cases of Closed Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda, Former Yugoslavia despite Pandemic-Related Hurdles, President Tells General Assembly

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Residual Mechanism Advancing Remaining Cases of Closed Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda, Former Yugoslavia despite Pandemic-Related Hurdles, President Tells General Assembly

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, set up to continue the vital legal work of bringing to justice the perpetrators of atrocities committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, made significant progress over the past year, despite obstacles due to the global health crisis, its President said today as he briefed the General Assembly on developments during the residual courts’ fourth year of functioning.

Security Council Presidential Statement on Great Lakes Urges Concerted Efforts against Armed Groups’ Illicit Funding from Pillaged Natural Resources

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Security Council Presidential Statement on Great Lakes Urges Concerted Efforts against Armed Groups’ Illicit Funding from Pillaged Natural Resources

Through a presidential statement, the Security Council urged signatory states of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as regional organizations and the international community, to coordinate their efforts to undercut the economic lifelines of armed groups that benefit from the illegal exploitation and trade in natural resources, and to prevent the exploitation of women and children in the trade of these resources.

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