UN General Assembly gets down to work

After the opening week of the UN General Assembly the various committees are now beginning their work. As can be seen from the theme for the General Debate The Sustainable Development Goals: a universal push to transform our world, implementation of the 2030 Agenda is the main concern running through much of the work of the General Assembly this session, with various aspects being taken up in different committees under the “Promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and recent United Nations conferences”.

The plenary will consider, for example, HIV/AIDS Declaration of Commitment; Roll Back Malaria; integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields; and sustainable development. Also on its agenda is Global health and foreign policy.

The Second Committee will consider a number of items that relate to information and communication technologies for development and macroeconomic policy questions, including trade, financing and external debt and follow up to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the International Conference on Financing for Development. The Second Committee will also consider sustainable development in the context of Rio+20 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It will also look at follow-up to the outcomes of conferences that relate to the needs of different groups of developing countries, such as the SAMOA Pathway and the Mauritius Strategy for small island developing states (SIDS) and those of least developed countries (LDCs) and landlocked developing countries (LLDCs). Disaster risk reduction; the Habitat outcomes; international migration and development; and agriculture development, food security and nutrition are also on its agenda.

The Third Committee will take up the social development aspects including questions relating to the world social situation; and to youth, ageing, disabled persons and the family. It will consider literacy for life; and the advancement of women; as well as a number of concerns under agenda items on the promotion of human rights.