The Security Council is holding its periodic debate on the Middle East today. Briefing Council members this morning, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe said that, over the past month, there has been no significant progress, and some worrying developments on the ground.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
Some 500 diplomats, Pakistani Government officials, senior UN officials and staff, and family and friends, gathered for a memorial today to pay respects to the World Food Programme (WFP) staff members who were killed or injured in the suicide attack on the WFP headquarters in Islamabad on 5 October.
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, arrived in the Philippines today on a 2-day mission to see first-hand the strong emergency response to tropical storm Ketsana and typhoon Parma.
The Secretary-General wholeheartedly welcomes and congratulates US President Barack Obama on winning the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.
The Secretary-General strongly condemns the senseless attack that took place in Kabul today, which reportedly killed 17 individuals and injured 80 more, and offers his deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed, and his best wishes for a swift recovery to those injured.
The guests at noon today will discuss what we have been doing to assist the Afghan authorities in holding the elections and responding to complaints of fraud.
The Secretary-General welcomes the arrest, in Kampala, Uganda, of Idelphonse Nizeyimana, who allegedly participated in the killing of Tutsis and moderate Hutus during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Five people working for the World Food Programme (WFP) have been confirmed dead after what local police are describing as a suicide bomb attack at the WFP offices in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
The Security Council this morning adopted its programme of work for October, in its first consultations under the Vietnamese presidency of the Security Council.
United Nations teams have now arrived in Indonesia and Samoa to help those countries cope with recent devastating natural disasters. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) says it is rapidly expanding its relief operation in the Philippines in the aftermath of last Saturday’s crippling tropical storm.