The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved six draft resolutions today amid new divisions in long‑standing agreements on sexual and reproductive rights, and in the delicate balance between efforts to fight racism and those to protect free speech.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved 11 draft resolutions today, amid heated debate around the call for a moratorium on use of the death penalty.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved its first‑ever draft resolution on combating trafficking in human organs today, with Spain’s delegate introducing it as a “novel” approach to crime prevention.
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) sent eight draft resolutions to the General Assembly today, covering a range of topics, from literacy and volunteering, to the annual designation of 4 January as World Braille Day beginning in 2019.
In the 12 years since its establishment, the Human Rights Council has played a pivotal role in addressing the world’s most difficult situations, its President told the Third Committee (Social, Cultural and Humanitarian) today, as he outlined priority activities for 2018 and described improvements to its work methods.
Warning that the hospitality extended to refugees by developing countries should not be taken for granted, delegates in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) called today for a “whole-of-globe” approach to ensure that all countries do their fair share, as they continued their debate on the promotion and protection of human rights.
Uprooted by war, today’s 68.5 million refugees are often branded as threats — turned back at borders, left to perish at sea, or detained indefinitely in horrific conditions, Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as he called for a return to dignity, human rights and a sense of shared humanity.
Mercenaries and private military companies can violently destabilize a country, rendering it helpless and ineffective, the mandate holder tasked with monitoring those activities told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today as delegates explored such challenges to building just, inclusive societies.
Racism, bigotry, xenophobia, nationalist populism, white supremacy and hate speech are on the rise, and often made more casual by public figures, experts told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, sounding an alarm bell against a “general indifference” to the perilous uptick in such behaviour.
Globally, more than 40 million people are subject to modern forms of slavery — 71 per cent of them women and girls — a grave human rights situation exacerbated by gender inequality, poverty, cultural norms and discriminatory laws that demand change, the Special Rapporteur on the topic told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural) today.
