UN General Assembly Social, Humanitarian & Cultural "Third" Committee

The Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, based in New York, is concerned with social, cultural and humanitarian issues that affect people globally and focuses a large part of its work on human rights questions. An important part of its work is the examination of reports of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.

The Committee also discusses questions relating to the advancement of women, the protection of children, indigenous issues, the treatment of refugees, the promotion of fundamental freedoms through the elimination of racism and racial discrimination, and the right to self- determination. The Committee also addresses important social development questions such as issues related to youth, family, ageing, persons with disabilities, crime prevention, criminal justice, and international drug control.

Ireland plays an active role at the Third Committee, through the negotiation of resolutions and the delivery of statements and interventions. Please see below for recent statements and interventions delivered by Ireland at the Third Committee.

Third Committee of UNGA 76 (2022)

The Third Committee of the 76^th session of the UN General Assembly was chaired by H.E. Mohamed Siad Doualeh (Djibouti). Despite the constraints of a hybrid working format, 63 resolutions were negotiated in total. Ireland co-sponsored 32 resolutions which aligned with our human rights principles and priorities and delivered 13 national statements at interactive dialogues as well as an omnibus statement in the General Debate.

During the session, Ireland worked with partner States to co-lead a joint statement on accountability for human rights violations in Yemen. Furthermore, Ireland acted as the EU burdensharer for the biennial Human Rights Defenders resolution A/RES/76/174) which was facilitated by Norway. It was adopted by consensus and co-sponsored by all EU Member States. The focus of the text was on providing a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders and ensuring their protection, including in the context of and recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Ireland’s two UN Youth Delegates, Diandra Ní Bhuachalla and Treasa Cadogan, delivered national statements at interactive dialogues on the Right to Education and the Right to Food. They also took part in the negotiations for the resolution on policies and programmes involving youth (A/RES/76/137).

Key Statements and Interventions delivered by Ireland