Sixth Committee (Legal) — 81st session
United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters (Provisional agenda item 88)
- Authority: resolution 80/169
- List of speakers (will be made available upon the closing of the list of speakers)
Documentation
Summary of work
Background (source: A/81/100)
At its seventy-first session, the General Assembly, under the item entitled “Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its sixty-eighth session”, decided to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-third session an item entitled “Protection of persons in the event of disasters” (resolution 71/141).
At its eightieth session, the Assembly decided to convene the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters, to meet for three weeks from 25 January to 12 February 2027 in Manila, and, if necessary, for a further two weeks in August 2027, to elaborate and conclude a legally binding instrument on the protection of persons in the event of disasters, without prejudice to the legal effects of any particular provisions contained therein (resolution 80/169).
The Assembly also decided to convene a preparatory committee for the Conference, to meet from 31 August to 4 September 2026, to refer the consolidated text including the draft articles and the proposals submitted by Governments, prepared at the resumed session of the Sixth Committee held in accordance with resolution 79/128, to the Conference, to decide on the question of the participation of stakeholders other than those referred to in paragraph 9, based on a list prepared by the Secretariat, with due regard to the principles of transparency and equitable geographical representation, and whose work is relevant to the Conference, and to discuss the organization and methods of work of the Conference, including the rules of procedure, with a view to making recommendations thereon to the Conference, taking into account the importance of promoting consensus in the Preparatory Committee and on the final results of the work of the Conference, requested the Secretary-General to prepare proposals and to bring the proposals and the list referred to above to the attention of Member States well in advance for their consideration and to the Preparatory Committee, and decided that, upon completion of its mandate, the Preparatory Committee should report directly to the Conference (resolution 80/169).
The Assembly further decided that the Conference and the Preparatory Committee should be open to all States Members of the United Nations and members of the specialized agencies, and requested the Secretary-General to invite those States to participate in the Conference. The Assembly also decided that the Conference and the Preparatory Committee should be open to observers having received a standing invitation to participate in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly, on the understanding that they should participate in the Conference and the Preparatory Committee in accordance with the rights and privileges conferred upon them by the Assembly, and requested the Secretary-General to invite them to the Conference, as well as to invite, as observers to the Conference, representatives of interested regional intergovernmental organizations and other interested international bodies (resolution 80/169).
The Assembly decided that attendance at the Preparatory Committee and the Conference as observers would also be opened to relevant non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council in accordance with the provisions of Council resolution 1996/31 of 25 July 1996, on the understanding that their participation means attending formal meetings, receiving copies of the official documents, making their materials available to delegates and addressing the meetings, through a limited number of their representatives, as appropriate (resolution 80/169).
At the same session, the Assembly decided that the Sixth Committee should resume its session from 6 to 10 April 2026, within the framework of a working group of the Committee, in accordance with resolution 79/128, and also decided to include in the provisional agenda of its eighty-first session an item entitled “United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters” (resolution 80/169).
