Third Committee

States needed to promote women’s rights, so they could be “agents of change” for sustained socio-economic development and security around the world, delegates told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as it continued its three-day discussion on the advancement of women.

Following a remarkable year in the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment that was marked by the establishment of UN-Women and the launch of the Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, it was now time to turn the momentum generated in 2010 into clear, tangible gains for women and girls everywhere, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today.

The power of organized criminal groups trafficking in drugs and weapons could destabilize countries, and even whole regions, if States did not strengthen international cooperation and provide more resources for the fight against them, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today, as it concluded its general discussion on crime prevention, criminal justice and international drug control.

The world community was facing a series of complex and interconnected threats that together formed a web of drugs, crime, corruption and even terrorism, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today, as it began its general discussion on crime prevention, criminal justice and international drug control.

Austerity measures adopted by developed countries to address the current economic upheaval hurt global growth and pushed millions more into poverty just when greater social protection was needed, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today.

Rising social inequalities stemming from the still-unfolding global economic downturn were a “time bomb” that, if left unaddressed, would tear apart the moral fabric of society and undermine prospects for social development, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Sha Zukang, told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as it opened its annual session with a debate on social development.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this morning to fill vacant positions on its Bureau for the upcoming sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly.

Concluding its work for the current session today, the Third Committee approved eight draft resolutions involving issues ranging from the follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action to monitoring the use of mercenaries and combating defamation of religions. These approvals brought the total number of texts that the Committee will forward to the General Assembly for adoption during the sixty-sixth session to 58.

On the eve of the completion of its work for this session, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved six resolutions today, including one that would have the General Assembly reaffirm that States must ensure that their efforts to combat terrorism comply with their international human rights obligations, and another that would have it emphasize that no religion should be equated with terrorism.

Resolutions that would have the General Assembly declare an International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, as well as establish an open-ended working group to strengthen the protection of human rights of older persons, were among the nine texts approved today by the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).