Social, Humanitarian & Cultural
Third Committee
The Social, Humanitarian Cultural Commitee (Third Committee) of the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly, is chaired by H.E. Stephan Tafrov of Bulgaria.
The General Assembly allocates to its Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee, commonly referred to as the "Third Committee", agenda items relating to a range of social, humanitarian affairs and human rights issues that affect people all over the world.
As in previous sessions, an important part of the work of the Committee will focus on the examination of human rights questions, including reports of the special procedures of the Human Rights Council which was established in 2006. In October 2013, the Committee will hear and interact with 49 such special rapporteurs, independent experts, and chairs of working groups of the Human Rights Council.
The Committee also discusses 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.
At the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly, the Third Committee considered 59 draft resolutions, more than half of which were submitted under the human rights agenda item alone. These included three so-called country-specific resolutions on human rights situations.
Under the chairmanship of ?H.E. Mr. Stephan Tafrov, the Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the United Nations, the Third Committee is expected to consider a similar number of draft resolutions.
In line with General Assembly resolution 66/246, the formal meetings of the Third Committee are webcast live on . Live coverage of the formal meetings is available in the six UN official languages, including the original language of the speaker.? Past meetings of the session will also be available from the Comittee's dedicated .
