The Secretary-General strongly condemns the suicide attack at the Data Ganj Baksh shrine in Lahore, Pakistan, which has reportedly claimed the lives of several dozen people and left many more injured.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The General Assembly President’s Chef de Cabinet announced that informal agreement has been reached on a resolution to create a new body for gender equality and empowerment of women.
The Secretary-General today attended the ceremony marking the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In an interview with Radio Okapi, he said that the celebration is a historic moment for the Congolese people and that the country has a major role to play in Africa and the world.
The Secretary-General has left New York and is on his way to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he will be attending the events tomorrow to commemorate the country’s fiftieth anniversary since independence. This evening, he is to attend a gala dinner hosted by President Joseph Kabila.
The Secretary-General condemns the vandalism last night by masked armed men of an UNRWA summer games facility in the Gaza Strip. He is very concerned that this is the second such incident in a month.
The Secretary-General was at an event to commemorate the beginning of the Korean War. That took place down at Battery Park, in Manhattan.
The Secretary-General today addressed the third Global Compact Leaders Summit, telling business leaders and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that the Global Compact has become the world's largest and most ambitious initiative of its kind during its first 10 years. Corporate sustainability is becoming a by-word in companies worldwide. He said the Compact may be voluntary, but that doesn’t mean it lacks teeth.
The Secretary-General has appointed a Panel of Experts that will advise him on the issue of accountability with regard to any alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka.
The Middle East Quartet today issued a statement on Israel’s actions on Gaza, reaffirming that the current situation in Gaza, including the humanitarian and human rights situation of the civilian population, is unsustainable, unacceptable, and not in the interests of any of those concerned.
The Security Council held an open meeting this morning to hear briefings by Prosecutors Serge Brammertz of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and Hassan Jallow of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.