Sixth Committee, 41st plenary meeting - General Assembly, resumed 80th session

I call to order the 41st meeting of the Sixth Committee. Distinguished delegates, the Sixth Committee will continue its consideration of agenda item 86, Protection of persons in the event of disasters. I recall that the sixth session of the Sixth Committee was resumed this week in accordance with resolution 79/128 and 80/169 for the working group on protection of persons in the event of disasters to be convened. This meeting of the Sixth Committee has been called to receive a report on the outcome of that work. We will also revert to the question of the Bureau of the preparatory committee of the UN diplomatic conference of plenipotentiaries on protection of persons in the event of disasters. Accordingly, I will first present an oral report in my capacity as chair of the working group on protection of persons in the event of disasters, after which the Sixth Committee will move to take action on the proposed recommendation of the working group. So I will now speak as in my capacity as chair of the working group.

In this regard, I have the honor to present the report of the working group on the protection of persons in the event of disasters for this year's resumed session of the Sixth Committee. Pursuant to paragraph 5, General Assembly resolution 79/128 of 4 December 2024, the Sixth Committee established this working group at its first meeting held on 6 October 2025. The mandate of the working group was to prepare a consolidated text constituted of the draft articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters as adopted by the International Law Commission and the proposals for amendments thereto submitted by governments, which will serve as the basis for the negotiations of the legally binding instrument on the protection of persons in the event of disasters to be elaborated and concluded at the United Nations conference of plenipotentiaries on protection of persons in the event of disasters. The conference will meet for three weeks from 25 January to 12 27- 12 February 2027 in Manila and, if necessary, for a further two weeks in August 2027 in accordance with the General Assembly resolution 80/169 of 15 December 2025. The working group had before it document A/80/610 prepared by the Secretariat containing the consolidated text of proposals for amendments to the draft articles, which were submitted to the Secretary-General by the deadline of 31 December 2025 in accordance with resolution 79/128. The document was also made available on the website of the UN conference on the protection of persons in the event of disasters together with the original submissions received from governments, some of which included accompanying commentary, explanations of their respective proposals and general comments. The working group was open to all states members of the United Nations as well as to relevant observers to the General Assembly, including representatives of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and various entities of the Secretariat. The working group held six meetings from 6 to 9 April 2026. At its first meeting, the working group began with the examination of the proposals for amendments to the draft articles on protection of persons in the event of disasters as anticipated in resolution 76/119. To facilitate a focused and fruitful discussion on the topic, the working group adopted a program of work that was divided into the following six thematic clusters of articles in the draft articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters. Thematic cluster 1 concerned the general provisions, namely the draft preamble and draft articles 1, 2, 3 and 18. Thematic cluster 2 focused on the core obligations as contained in draft articles 4, 5, 6 and 9, and thematic cluster 3 dealt with the provisions on international cooperation found in draft articles 7, 8 and 12. Thematic cluster 4 concerned the affected state and focused on provisions in draft articles 10, 11, 13 and 14. Thematic cluster 5 dealt with the question of the facilitation of external assistance and focused on draft articles 15, 16 and 17. Thematic cluster 6 dealt with the proposals for additional provisions. I am pleased to report that delegations engaged in a series of in-depth, substantive and thought-provoking discussions throughout the meetings of the working group. I will not make an attempt to summarize all the views expressed in the working group. Suffice it to indicate that many interventions were made in the form of recapitulations of proposals already reflected in the compilation of proposals prepared by the Secretariat or which delegations intend to submit for inclusion in a future addendum to the compilation. I would also draw your attention to the fact that some delegations shared their statements made in the working group with the Secretariat for posting on the website. Links to those statements will be provided on the websites of both the Sixth Committee and the diplomatic conference. Distinguished delegates, I have the honor to report that the working group made the following recommendation. Number one, that the Secretariat be requested to finalize the consolidated text on the basis of the compilation of proposals for amendments to the International Law Commission's draft articles contained in document A/80/610, including any additional proposals for amendments, and that the consolidated text be transmitted to the preparatory committee for the diplomatic conference, which will be held in August in accordance with resolution 80/169 for eventual referral to the conference. And secondly, that those delegations wishing to submit new or further proposals for amendments or changes to existing proposals will be able to do so by submitting them in writing to the Secretariat by 15 May 2026 at the latest. Any delegation wishing to submit proposals for amendments to the conference draft articles after that date would have to do so directly to the conference. Before concluding my statement, allow me to sincerely thank all delegations for their meaningful engagement and contribution to the work of the working group at this year's session, as well as to the Secretariat for its valuable assistance, and in particular to the interpreters and the conference officers. This concludes my presentation of the oral report of the chair of the working group. I recommend that the Sixth Committee take note of the present oral report, including the working group's recommendation. Thank you.

Distinguished delegates, I'll now speak again in my capacity as chair of the Sixth Committee. So could I first check whether it is the wish of the committee to take note of the oral report of the chair of the working group on protection of persons in the event of disasters? I see no objection, so decided.

Let us now consider the recommendation of the working group. I'll basically repeat what I've just said. I recall that the working group recommended, number one, that the Secretariat be requested to finalize the consolidated text on the basis of the compilation of proposals for amendments to the International Law Commission's draft articles contained in document A/80/610, including any additional proposals for amendments, and that the consolidated text be transmitted to the preparatory committee for the diplomatic conference, which will be meeting from 31 August to 4 September 2026 in accordance with resolution 80/169 for eventual referral to the conference. And secondly, that those delegations wishing to submit new or further proposals for amendments or changes to existing proposals will be able to do so by submitting them in writing to the Secretariat by 15 May 2026 at the latest. Any delegation wishing to submit proposals for amendments to the commission's draft articles after that date would have to do so directly to the conference. May I take it that it is the wish of the Sixth Committee to approve the recommendation of the working group? I see no objection, so decided. And to thank again all delegations for their work and contributions. The Sixth Committee will now revert to the consideration of the question of the Bureau of the preparatory committee for the United Nations diplomatic conference of plenipotentiaries on protection of persons in the event of disasters. You may recall that I appointed Ms. Lucia Solano Ramirez of Colombia, the vice chair of the Sixth Committee, as coordinator on the question of the composition of the Bureau of the preparatory committee. I have since been informed by the coordinator that there is agreement on the procedure for the Bureau for the PrepCom to be composed of two members per regional group. And on behalf of the Sixth Committee, I wish to thank Ms. Solano for coordinating the discussions on this topic. May I take it that it is the wish of the Sixth Committee to approve the recommendation of the coordinator that the Bureau for the preparatory committee be composed of two members per regional group? I see no comments, objection, so decided. Again to thank the coordinator and all those who participated in the work on this topic. I will be transmitting letters in the light of that decision to the chairs of the regional groups in due course requesting nominations for the Bureau of the preparatory committee. Please note that upon the request of the Secretariat, a relatively short nomination period will be proposed in order to have the Bureau elect of the preparatory committee in place sooner rather than later. Thank you. Distinguished delegates, we have now reached the end of the work of the resumed session of the Sixth Committee on agenda item 86, Protection of persons in the event of disasters. I wish once again to thank all delegations, including those that came from capitals, for their very positive contributions throughout the week. I'm sure that we are left with a better sense of the work lying ahead of us in advance of the diplomatic conference. I recall the recommendation that those delegations who are contemplating making new or further formal proposals for amendments for inclusion in an addendum to the consolidated text should please do so in writing to the Secretariat by 15 May. I also recall that this topic will be considered next at the preparatory committee for the diplomatic conference, which shall be held here in New York from 31 August to 4 September 2026, and I look forward to seeing you all at that meeting. Before moving on, I have been informed that the Secretariat intends to prepare an addendum to the Sixth Committee list of participants in order to reflect the names of delegates from capitals who participated in the resumed session. Accordingly, I invite delegations who wish to submit additional names to the list of participants of the Sixth Committee to send an email to sixthcommittee@un.org indicating the names of representatives, alternate representatives and/or advisers which participated in the resumed session that were not already included in the original document. The additional names received by next Wednesday, 15 April 2026, will be included in an addendum to the membership list of the Sixth Committee, which was issued in December as document A/C.6/80/INF/2. As no further action under this agenda item is expected or required at the present session of the General Assembly, the Sixth Committee has concluded its consideration of agenda item 86, Protection of persons in the event of disasters. Distinguished delegates, this brings us to the end of the substantive component of the Sixth Committee's meetings at the 80th session of the General Assembly. A further meeting of the Sixth Committee will be held on 2 June 2026 in order to elect the Bureau for the 81st session. Allow me at this point to thank on behalf of the rest of the Bureau all of you for your strong support, cooperation, professionalism and understanding and cooperation throughout the committee's session. I wish to thank all of you for your flexibility also, as we have been able to persevere and conclude the session on time, and we have been able to do so while preserving the Sixth Committee's tradition of reaching agreement by consensus. Indeed, it is the hope of the Bureau that the committee will seek to maintain this tradition in the future, undertaken in accordance with the established practices and procedures of the committee, which have served it so well thus far. I want to also express my gratitude to my colleagues in the Bureau for their wise counsel, advice and willingness to assist in the discharge of the various functions whenever called upon to do so, and I did call upon them on many occasions. Last but not least, I wish to express our great appreciation for our Secretariat, the Codification Division, without their tireless work assisting and supporting the committee, this session could hardly have come to a successful conclusion. The work of the committee was also greatly facilitated by the interpreters, the précis-writers from the meetings coverage section, conference officers, document officers and all technical personnel to whom we express our deep thanks. At this stage, before I conclude, I still have a request from the floor and I'd like to give it to the distinguished representative from the Russian Federation.

Thank you very much, Chair. And thank you for your efforts and for presenting the report. I'd like to, with your indulgence, go to the question of the Bureau of the preparatory committee. We have just a quick question on this. I'd like to clarify if we understood it correctly that the Bureau of the PrepCom will only be procedural and organizational in how it works and it won't actually take any substantive decisions. Thank you.

Thank you for your question. I'll perhaps give the floor to the Secretariat.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In response to the question of the distinguished representative of the Russian Federation, I'm happy to confirm that's precisely the role of the Bureau of all Bureaus are organizational, procedural, and as I mentioned during the working- oh no, sorry, it was during the informal consultation on the matter of the Bureau, Bureaus can only recommend action, procedural action usually. So it is for the body to then approve the recommendation of the Bureau. But indeed, the reason for requesting the Bureau so early is precisely for organizational reasons. That's the purpose of the Bureau. Thank you very much.

Thank the Secretariat for their response. Okay. If there are no other requests for the floor, all that's left for me to say is to wish all of you a pleasant weekend. To please enjoy yourselves. And I declare the meeting adjourned and accordingly the resumed session of the Sixth Committee is closed.