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At 3 p.m. on Friday, 1 May, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will conclude its twenty-fifth session. The two-week session - which opened on 20 April and featured an address by Secretary-General António Guterres - has focused on the theme “Ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ health, including in the context of conflict”. The Forum - a high-level advisory body of the Economic and Social Council - was established in 2000 by resolution 2000/22, with the mandate to address Indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.
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At 3 p.m., the Security Council will take action on a draft resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), which is set to expire today. Today's vote follows a 17 April briefing by Anita Kiki Gbeho, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for South Sudan and Head of UNMISS, who described a 25-30 per cent reduction in the mission's operational capacity; and Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who reported that two thirds of South Sudan's population requires aid.
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The Security Council will convene for an open briefing under the agenda item “Non-proliferation", concerning the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The meeting was requested by Council members Bahrain, Denmark, France, Latvia, the UK, and the US, as well as non-Council members Japan and the Republic of Korea to discuss the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's “continued violations of multiple Security Council resolutions” two years after the disbandment of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1718 Sanctions Committee. UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo and James Byrne, the Chief Executive Officer of the Open Source Centre, are expected to brief.
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The Council will hold its quarterly open debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. Bahrain — the Council’s president in April — is convening the meeting as a high-level signature event, which Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullatif bin Rashid al Zayani will chair. Also briefing will be Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations Khaled Khiari; Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide in his capacity as Chair of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee; and former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair in his capacity as a member of the Executive Board of the Board of Peace.
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Tthe Council will hold an open debate on maritime security, one of the signature events of Bahrain’s presidency of the 15-member organ for the month of April. Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al Zayani is expected to chair the meeting.
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The Committee on Information opens its 48th annual session today, running from 27 April through 8 May. The Committee, a subsidiary body of the General Assembly, oversees the work of the Department of Global Communications, providing it with guidance on policies, programmes and activities. Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, Melissa Fleming will update the Committee on the Department's activities and report on the implementation of General Assembly resolutions 80/84 A-B.