Outer space

New York, 4 December — The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Korea, will convene the twenty-fourth Republic of Korea-United Nations Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Issues at United Nations Headquarters from 4 to 5 December. The theme of this year’s Conference is “The Evolution of Outer Space Security in an Era of Growing Insecurity”. It will bring together senior officials, diplomats, technical experts, academics and civil society representatives at a time of growing global reliance on space-based technologies.

The World Food Programme (WFP) today reported that millions in Somalia are at risk of worsening hunger and malnutrition as critical funding shortfalls have forced the agency to reduce the number of people it supports by over two thirds to just 350,000 in November, down from 1.1 million in August.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the sixty-eighth session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, in Vienna today:

In Myanmar, two weeks after the country was hit by two earthquakes, pushing 2 million more people into critical need of support, the UN and partners have launched a $275 million appeal, which is an addendum to the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan to reach 1.1 million people with urgent assistance.

The General Assembly, in two meetings today, acted on the recommendation of its First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), adopting 72 texts requiring nearly 200 separate recorded votes.

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its general debate on international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space today with the approval of two resolutions and two decisions, appointing Latvia and Djibouti to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Voicing strong commitment to international cooperation, delegates in the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today stressed the importance of sharing space technology for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, while commending the effectiveness and relevance of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Outer space is facing severe security challenges, with certain countries declaring it a war-fighting domain, accelerating their space military capability build-up and heightening the risk of an arms race, the representative of China told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) in its thematic debate today.

As the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) began its consideration of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, delegates underscored the fragility and mystery of that realm, calling for cooperation in preserving its peacefulness and harnessing the potential of space technologies.

The Security Council again failed to adopt a resolution on outer space today — following the Russian Federation’s veto of a similar text on 24 April — with members voting in the same manner that saw the defeat of a proposed amendment to that text, which was then incorporated into the draft under present consideration.