Press Conference

Governments should endeavour to update the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted more than five decades ago, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment told reporters at a Headquarters press conference today.

Governments must seriously address issues concerning land, natural resources and extractive industries in territories populated by indigenous peoples worldwide to ensure those peoples’ rights and privileges were not trampled upon, said Paul Kanyinke Sena, Chair of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

At a time of progress for women’s right alongside the emergence of devastating new forms of violence against women, consolidating inter-agency efforts to make more of an impact on the ground was the next forward step, the Head of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women said at a press conference at Headquarters today.

The crucial needs of about 1 billion people living with physical and mental disabilities around the world must be woven into the disaster planning and emergency response plans of Governments and civil society groups, said the Organization’s senior manager on disaster reduction at a press conference at Headquarters today.

Thanks largely to Member States meeting their obligations, the overall financial situation of the United Nations was sound, and the Organization’s cash position in its core operations other than the regular budget were projected to be positive at the end of this year, said Yukio Takasu, Under-Secretary-General for Management at a Headquarters press conference today.

As the number of urban areas increased around the globe, transforming the world’s political, economic and social landscape, it was vital to ensure people’s access to transport and essential basic services, Joan Clos, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), said at a Headquarters press conference today.

Migration had always been a fundamental human phenomenon, and the human rights of migrants must be respected and enforced whether their crossing was considered “illegal” or not, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, François Crépeau, said at a Headquarters press conference today.

At a Headquarters press conference today, Assembly President John Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda) welcomed civil society’s participation in determining the post-2015 development agenda as the “new norm”, and highlighted, among other changes, steps towards a new openness during the sixty-eighth General Assembly session.

The Security Council's work programme for October would include three open debates — on working methods, the Middle East and women, peace and security — as well as the first-ever high-level meeting on cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan said today as he assumed presidency of the 15-member body.

Noting the significant role of migrants in the development of both origin and destination countries, senior United Nations officials today stressed the need to protect their rights and integrate their contributions to society into the post-2015 development agenda.