Sixth Committee, 38th meeting – General Assembly, 79th session

Mr. Solomon Korbieh
Minister
Permanent Mission of Ghana
November 22, 2024

Draft resolution on the “United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law” (under agenda item 78)

Introduction of draft resolution A/C.6/79/L.19 on behalf of the Bureau

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr Chair,
Today I have the honour to introduce, on behalf of the Bureau, the draft resolution contained in document A/C.6/79/L.19, entitled “United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law.”

This draft resolution is based on General Assembly resolution 78/107 adopted on 7 December 2023, and includes necessary technical updates as well as some new text. My remarks this morning will highlight the main elements of the resolution.

As it was the case last year, operative paragraphs 2, 5, 6 and 17 would authorize the Secretary-General in 2025 to (1) organize, conduct, and award fellowships for, the United Nations Regional Courses in International Law and the International Law Fellowship Programme; (2) to maintain and further develop of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law; and (3) to publish and disseminate legal texts and websites maintained by the Office of Legal Affairs.

In operative paragraph 2(c), the General Assembly would continue to demonstrate its strong support for multilingualism in the work of the organization, by authorizing the continuation and further development of the Historic Archives of the Audiovisual Library in all the official languages of the United Nations.

The draft resolution would also authorize the Secretary-General to award of the Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Memorial Fellowship on the Law of the Sea in 2025, subject to the availability of funds from voluntary contributions, in operative paragraph 7.

Mr. Chair,
Pursuant to operative paragraph 8, the General Assembly would request the Secretary-General to continue to include resources in the proposed programme budget for 2026 for the International Law Fellowship Programme, the United Nations Regional Courses in International Law for Africa, for Asia-Pacific and for Latin America and the Caribbean and for the continuation and further development of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law. Moreover, pursuant to operative paragraph 3, the Assembly would authorize the Secretary-General to further expand the aforementioned activities using voluntary contributions.

Pursuant to operative paragraph 26, the General Assembly would reiterate its request to Member States and interested organizations to make voluntary contributions for the Audiovisual Library and the United Nations Regional Courses in International Law.

The draft resolution would also encourage the Codification Division, in operative paragraph 22, to cooperate with the African Institute of International Law on the second International Law Seminar for African Universities to be held in Ethiopia in 2025, subject to any available resources. Member States and interested organizations would also be encouraged to make voluntary contributions to the African Institute of International Law, for the International Law Seminar for African Universities.

Mr. Chair,
This concludes my introduction of draft resolution A/C.6/79/L.19. In. view of the broad support for the Programme expressed by delegations in the plenary sessions on this agenda item, as well as the broad support for the text produced at the informal consultations, it is my recommendation that the Sixth Committee adopt the draft resolution without a vote.

It has been a distinct pleasure to coordinate this draft resolution given the general support expressed for the activities under the Programme of Assistance both in the plenary debate as well as at the informal consultations.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.