General Assembly: Committees

Norway's Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs, Ms. Hilde Janne Skorpen presented Norway's statement to the General Assembly's First Committee on "Thematic discussion on Disarmament Machinery". She stressed the need to reform the system and capitalise on the current momentum in the disarmament debate.

"UN Operational Activities for Development" was on the agenda in the General Assembly's Second Committee on October 12, 2010. The statement was read by the Dutch representative on behalf of Norway, the Netherlands, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania and the United Kingdom.

In the General Assembly's Third Committee, Ambassador Tine Mørch Smith presented Norway's statement on the Rights of the Child, bringing attention to the significance of children’s rights in the efforts to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals and arguing that the goals can only be reached by targeting the poorest and most vulnerable children.

Hilde Janne Skorpen, Norwegian Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs, presented Norway's statement in the thematic discussion on nuclear weapons to the General Assembly's First Committee on October 14, 2010.

Advisor Ingrid Kvammen Ekker from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented Norway's statement to the General Assembly's Second Committee on October 14, 2010. The statement addressed the "Follow-up to and implementation of the outcome of the 2002 International Conference on Financing for Development and the 2008 Review Conference".

Counsellor Åsmund Eriksen presented Norway's statement to the Sixth Committee on the issue of "The scope and application of the principle of universal jurisdiction". He proposed that the Committee search for procedural or organisational recommendations that will contribute to eliminating any misuse of universal jurisdiction. Counsellor Eriksen also suggested that it does not engage in a possibly futile discussion as to what crimes universal jurisdiction applies to.

In the General Assembly's Third Committee, Senior Advisor Juliet Namuli Birabwa Haveland of the Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion presented Norway's statement on the advancement of women.

In the Sixth Committee’s debate on the Rule of Law, Counsellor Åsmund Eriksen underlined Norway's view that it is contrary to the rule of law and creates a profound sense of injustice when a suspect of a serious crime is perceived to obtain impunity out of reach of a competent criminal prosecution.

Counsellor Åsmund Eriksen, presented a statement to the General Assembly's Sixth committee on behalf of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark on October 11, 2010. The statement was on the report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its forty-third session.

On the topic of Criminal accountability of UN officials and experts on mission, Mr. Eriksen emphasized that the Member States need to put a mechanism in place that can deal effectively with allegations of serious crimes being committed on a larger scale, should such a situation again occur in the future.