Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for Human Rights, signed an agreement in New York with the Government of Sudan to open several offices in that country.  Ms. Bachelet said that with this milestone pact her office is poised to offer its support to make the transition a success for the human rights of all Sudanese.

Following is UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ message, delivered by Maria Luiza Viotti, Chef de Cabinet, to the ministerial meeting on cooperation between China and Africa on matters before the Security Council, in New York today:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the reception on the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, in New York today:

The new Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

The United Nations Children’s Fund announced a partnership to build a first-of-its-kind factory to convert plastic waste in Côte d’Ivoire into modular plastic bricks, which will be used to build classrooms.  Côte d’Ivoire needs 15,000 classrooms; 500 will be constructed through the partnership in the next two years.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Today is the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, and the 2019 theme is “Let’s Grow the Future Together”.  In his message, the Secretary-General stressed that protecting and restoring land can reduce forced migration, improve food security, spur economic growth and help address the global climate emergency.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Beijing from New York on the evening of Thursday, 25 April.

Responding to record flood levels in Iran, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the country, Ugochi Daniels, today asked the donor community for $25 million to cover the emergency and early recovery needs of 115,000 highly vulnerable people in the most hard-hit Provinces of Golestan, Khuzestan, Ilam and Lorestan.

This week is World Immunization Week, and UNICEF is highlighting the dangers of the global rise in measles cases.  Executive Director Henrietta Fore said today:  “If we are serious about averting the spread of this dangerous but preventable disease, we need to vaccinate every child, in rich and poor countries alike.”