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.
In progress at UNHQ
Press Conference
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.
The Security Council resolution on dismantling and eliminating Syria’s chemical weapons capabilities established a new norm ensuring that the use of such weapons by anyone anywhere constituted a threat to international peace and security, the 15-member body’s President for September said today.
Emerging from a period of difficult transition into a “decade of transformation”, Afghanistan’s upcoming April 2014 elections represented a critical juncture that would have wide-ranging implications for the country’s long-term peace and security, its Deputy Foreign Minister said at a Headquarters press conference today.
For too long, persons with disabilities had been excluded from development planning and it was time to recognize their enormous potential to create a more inclusive and equitable world, top United Nations officials said today, highlighting an unprecedented event aimed at dismantling the barriers to their full participation in society.
A renewed and stronger global partnership was necessary to accelerate the race to meet internationally agreed development goals by 2015, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today as he launched an annual progress report on those global commitments.