6 months 3 weeks ago
Conference on Disarmament concludes hearing general statements and begins discussing a draft package on the 2021 programme of work
26 January 2021
Meeting Summaries
The Conference on Disarmament this afternoon heard general statements by Switzerland, Russian Federation and Nigeria, and then began discussing the Presidency’s draft package on the 2021 programme of work of the Conference.
In the general statements, speakers urged the Russian Federation and the United States to extend the New START Treaty without further delay. While some said the non-inclusive and non-consensual Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons did not establish any new standards or norms,…
6 months 3 weeks ago
Conference on Disarmament continues to hear general statements
26 January 2021
Meeting Summaries
The Conference on Disarmament this morning held a plenary meeting under the Presidency of Ambassador Marc Pecsteen of Belgium, hearing general statements by South Africa, Cuba, Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ukraine and Sri Lanka.
At the beginning of the meeting, as Ambassador Pecsteen read out the names of States requesting observer status for the 2021 session of the Conference, Iran said it could not agree to Yemen's request to participate in the work of the Conference as an observer as the party that had made this request did not represent the people of…
6 months 4 weeks ago
Conference on Disarmament continues to hear general statements
21 January 2021
Meeting Summaries
The Conference on Disarmament this afternoon held a plenary meeting under the Presidency of Ambassador Marc Pecsteen of Belgium, hearing general statements by Japan, Israel, Ethiopia, Argentina, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Australia, Republic of Korea, Turkey, Colombia and Mexico.
Speakers urged the Conference to draw lessons from past mistakes, urging pragmatism and realism. Several speakers expressed support for the United Nations General Assembly resolution 75/36 ‘Reducing space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours’,…
6 months 4 weeks ago
Conference on Disarmament holds plenary meeting under the Presidency of Belgium
21 January 2021
Meeting Summaries
The Conference on Disarmament this morning held a plenary meeting under the Presidency of Ambassador Marc Pecsteen of Belgium, hearing statements by Indonesia on behalf of the Group of 21, Malaysia, India, Germany, Ecuador, Venezuela, Spain, Italy, France, Kenya, Austria, Morocco, Algeria and Kazakhstan.
The speakers outlined their national positions on various disarmament issues, stressed the need for the Conference to start its substantive work, and addressed a number of disarmament events which would take place in 2021. Several regretted the objection…
6 months 4 weeks ago
Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament: the hardest challenges but also the greatest opportunities lie ahead
19 January 2021
Meeting Summaries
Tatiana Valovaya, Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament and Personal Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to the Conference, and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, this afternoon told the Conference on Disarmament that this year would be marked by important events for the global nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control regimes, including the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; the Review Conference of the Treaty on…
6 months 4 weeks ago
Conference on Disarmament opens its 2021 session under the Presidency of Belgium
19 January 2021
Meeting Summaries
Turkey Objects to the Participation of Cyprus as an Observer to the 2021 Session of the Conference and Iran Objects to the Participation of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates as Observers
The Conference on Disarmament this morning opened its 2021 session under the Presidency of Ambassador Marc Pecsteen of Belgium.
At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Pecsteen welcomed the new representatives of Bulgaria and Cameroon. The agenda of the Conference was adopted. The Conference then approved requests by Albania, Angola,…
7 months ago
Committee on the Rights of the Child opens online limited eighty-sixth session
18 January 2021
Meeting Summaries
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today opened its online limited eighty-sixth session.
Luis Ernesto Pedernera Reyna, Chairperson of the Committee, said the Committee had been working on the Third Optional Protocol, and General Comment 25, and would spare no efforts to discharge its mandate. Because of COVID-19, pre-existing problems had worsened. Child poverty was increasing and the closure of schools had had a devastating impact, increasing dropout rates. This had resulted in what the United Nations Secretary-General had called a “generational…
8 months 1 week ago
United Nations Office at Geneva commemorates International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
08 December 2020
Meeting Summaries
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People was commemorated today at a Special Meeting held at the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Tatiana Valovaya, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the meeting and read out the message of António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General, who said that the COVID-19 pandemic had worsened the already dire humanitarian and socio-economic situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Israel’s suspension of plans to annex parts of the…
8 months 2 weeks ago
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights urges government of Belarus to end ongoing human rights violations
04 December 2020
Meeting Summaries
Human Rights Council Hears Oral Update by the High Commissioner on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus
The Human Rights Council this morning heard an oral update by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Belarus in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election and in its aftermath.
Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said she regretted to report that since the Council's urgent debate on Belarus in September,…
8 months 3 weeks ago
Committee on Enforced Disappearances closes nineteenth session
25 November 2020
Meeting Summaries
Mohammed Ayat, Chairperson of the Committee, said the Committee had met on 22 occasions during the session, which started on 7 September. The Committee had adopted lists of issues for the Czech Republic, Greece and Niger, as well as a list of issues in the absence of a report for Mali. It had also adopted reports on follow-up to concluding observations by analysing the follow-up reports of eight States parties, as well as its report on urgent action, which dealt with trends and the main decisions taken with regard to the 969 urgent actions registered as of the date of…
