The day when no baby would be born with HIV, anywhere in the world, was very near, Bertil Lindblad, Director, New York Office of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), told reporters today at a Headquarters press conference, as he launched the 2012 UNAIDS World AIDS Day report.
In progress at UNHQ
Press Conference
Although the urgent, short-term humanitarian needs of people displaced around Goma were under control, long-term assistance remained uncertain, Mustapha Soumaré, Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo told journalists today by videoconference from Kinshasa.
Soccer, the most popular game in the world, was an extraordinary instrument for peace, development, mutual understanding and tolerance, Cesare Maria Ragaglini, Permanent Representative of Italy, told journalists at a Headquarters press conference today.
Voting to grant non-Member Observer State status to Palestine would be an implicit recognition that the State of Palestine existed, and would open the way for negotiations, and give delegations the chance to join “the side of history and humanity”, the Permanent Observer of Palestine, Riyad Mansour, told reporters at a Headquarters press conference today.
Having fared relatively well in the current difficult economic climate, cooperatives were positioned to provide the most sustainable, fastest-growing business model in the coming decade, panellists said today at a Headquarters press conference marking the close of the International Year of Cooperatives.
More and more disasters were on their way, Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, cautioned at a press conference today at Headquarters.
Emphasizing that access to voluntary family planning was a human right, Richard Kollodge, editor of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report, told journalists today that increased financial support and political commitments were crucial in order to reap both the economic benefits and positive multiplier effect on development that resulted from providing such health services.
The head of conference management for General Assembly and Economic and Social Council Affairs briefed journalists today on those bodies’ new work programme decided upon in the wake of last week’s disruptive hurricane that had caused flooding damage to the United Nations New York Headquarters and forced its closure for three days.
Humanitarian aid operations in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, although effective, were insufficient, John Ging, Director of Operations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters at a press conference at Headquarters today.
Despite the Internet’s importance as a communications vehicle, the platform was a powerful double-edged tool, capable of being used to both spread and combat racism, a human rights expert said today at Headquarters following a presentation to the General Assembly of two related reports.