Delegates voiced sharp differences today about the work of the Human Rights Council as the General Assembly took up the intergovernmental body’s annual report. While some praised its efforts over the past year to curb human rights violations through the creation of special mechanisms and emergency sessions, other delegates said the Geneva-based intergovernmental body applies double standards that ignore their impact on developing countries.
Plenary
Delegates today commended the work of the International Criminal Court as the body marks 20 years since its inception, with many speakers emphasizing that the mechanism’s expanding workload requires resources and support from Member States in order to fulfil its mandate.
The General Assembly today adopted a resolution delivering $3.52 million to the Secretary-General to ease global food insecurity by facilitating the implementation of two key initiatives aimed at bringing agricultural commodities from Ukraine and the Russian Federation to world markets and countries in need. The Assembly also considered the International Court of Justice’s annual report.
The Economic and Social Council used the past year to advance the Organization’s unwavering commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with a high-level meeting that zeroed in on the challenges created by the escalation of socio-economic divisions around the globe, the Council’s President told the General Assembly today.
Nearly a dozen years after its creation by the Security Council, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals is ready to transition from a fully operational court to a truly residual institution, its President said today as she briefed the General Assembly on its work over the past year.
The General Assembly today elected 14 Member States to the Human Rights Council, the United Nations body responsible for promoting and protecting all human rights around the globe.
As part of its ongoing emergency special session on Ukraine, the General Assembly met today to consider a draft resolution introduced by Ukraine that, if approved, would condemn the Russian Federation’s annexation of several territories in eastern Ukraine in late September.
Delegates offered input on the Transforming Education Summit, the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2022-2031, follow-up to the Millennium Declaration and the 2005 World Summit Outcome, as well as progress in implementing the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (2016–2025), as the General Assembly met today to review how major United Nations conferences and summits are carried out and ways to help strengthen the United Nations system.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the General Assembly on Pakistan floods, in New York today:
General Assembly delegates today extended the Organization’s support and sympathy to the Government and people of Pakistan with the unanimous adoption of a resolution that emphasizes the need to help the South-East Asian nation rebuild from devastating rains that left a third of the country under water.