As the Sixth Committee (Legal) concluded its seventy‑fourth session today by taking action via its tradition of consensus on 12 draft resolutions, 1 draft decision and 3 requests for observer status, several delegates expressed regret over a lack of forward progress in the development of international law, while others distanced themselves from certain provisions in those texts because of terminology or tacit endorsements of certain mechanisms.

The world has not kept its promises to its children, many of whom are at risk of “being left behind”, the General Assembly heard today as it marked the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child — also known as the most widely adopted international treaty in history.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) concluded its work today, approving 17 draft resolutions on matters ranging from devising effective youth policies and ending racism, to preventing violence against women migrant workers and upholding the right to self‑determination.

Following are UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ remarks at the high‑level event between the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization “Cooperation to promote peace, security and stability:  preventing the linking of terrorism with organized crime and its financing through drug trafficking”, today:

Any legally binding treaty to create an atomic‑bomb‑free region will fail unless every State joins, delegates from both possessor and non‑possessor nations said today during the general debate of the first ever Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, with Israel and the United States absent from the discussions.

Violence and insecurity have sparked an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso, Mali and western Niger, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says.  The number of internally displaced persons exceeds 750,000 and 2.4 million need food assistance, the World Food Programme reports.

With less than 16 working days until the scheduled 13 December close of the main part of its seventy-fourth session, the Chairman of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budget) today warned Member States that the skyrocketing number of budget questions directed towards Secretariat officials is dangerously delaying the Committee’s work.

Following are UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council open debate on the role of reconciliation processes in the maintenance of peace and security, in New York today:

Hailing reconciliation as a powerful means by which to help societies heal after brutal wars and mass atrocities, speakers emphasized today that the concept must also evolve to tackle increasingly complex modern‑day conflicts — often related to polarization, inequality and growing mistrust of institutions — as the Security Council held its first open debate on the matter in 15 years.

The new Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, Kimihiro Ishikane, presented his credentials to United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres today.