To commemorate United Nations Day, the Secretary-General and staff members handed out promotional materials to passers-by in Times Square describing the global activities of the Organization. The NASDAQ billboard, as well, displayed information during the morning and would repeat that ticker in the late afternoon.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Secretary-General and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali condemned the deadly suicide attack that killed and injured several Chadian peacekeepers. Offering condolences to the families of the fallen peacekeepers, the Secretary-General stressed that such actions would not deter the United Nations from supporting peace being restored.
The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, briefed the Security Council this morning on the situation in the Middle East, informing the Council about the discussions taking place in the region, including the Syria catastrophe and the Middle East peace process.
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Martin Kobler, and his Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, Mary Robinson, both briefed the Security Council by videoconference, offering an overview of the Kampala Dialogue negotiations. Consensus had been reached on most points and both parties agreed to reconvene soon to overcome differences.
Speaking at today’s Security Council meeting on women, peace and security, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized that women must be involved at every stage of efforts to reaffirm the rule of law and noted that, for the first time in history, five United Nations peacekeeping operations were being led by women.
The General Assembly elected five new non-permanent members of the Security Council. Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia will each serve a two-year term starting in January.
The Secretary-General has appointed Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands as Special Coordinator of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations joint mission to eliminate the chemical weapons programme of the Syrian Arab Republic. The appointment was made in close consultation with OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü.
On Sunday, a UNAMID convoy was attacked in West Darfur, killing three peacekeepers and wounding another; on Friday, a UNAMID military observer was killed in an attack in North Darfur. The Secretary-General said that these attacks were unacceptable and called on the Government of Sudan to bring those responsible to justice.
The Secretary-General congratulated the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for being awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize today. He noted that, later today, the Security Council is expected to approve a first-of-its-kind OPCW-UN joint mission in Syria following the landmark work of the UN chemical weapons investigation mission.
Attending a summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders and the United Nations, the Secretary-General highlighted points of partnerships and said the Organization needed ASEAN’s dynamism to set new standards for equitable growth and sustainable development in the region and beyond.