In progress at UNHQ

Noon Briefings


Nearly one month after the deadly earthquake and tsunami that struck Sulawesi, Indonesia, UNICEF says that some 375,000 children still need life-saving supplies and services.  More than 2,000 were killed, and key services for children – such as schools and health centres – have been rendered inoperable.

As part of this year’s United Nations Day observance the Department of Public Information has organized a photo exhibition in the New York Headquarters Visitors’ Lobby called “People on the Move”, with more than 50 stunning images portraying refugees, migrants and internally displaced people over seven decades.

Amid a relatively calm and peaceful security situation in Darfur, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation there has embarked earnestly on its drawdown and is in the process of relocating its headquarters from El Fasher to Zalingei, Mission Head Jeremiah Mamabolo reported to the Security Council this morning.

After reviewing the human rights background of the commander of the Sri Lankan contingent deployed to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, the Secretariat has requested that his Government immediately repatriate him back to Sri Lanka at their cost, as per normal procedures.

The United Nations Population Fund’s annual State of World Population report “The Power of Choice: Reproductive Rights and the Demographic Transition” shows that the global trend towards smaller families and the power to choose the number, timing and spacing of children can bolster economic and social development.

At the launch of the United Nations System Workplace Mental Health and Well-being Strategy, the Secretary-General highlighted the importance of ensuring the well-being of staff, many of whom work in increasingly dangerous environments, and the need to fight the stigma of talking about mental health issues in the workplace.