Press Conference

Visiting the United Nations as a “father who wants to bring his son home”, the father of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit said today that his son’s release must be considered in the context of the Palestinian bid for recognition as a Member State during the upcoming General Assembly session.

Diplomats working to strengthen implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities stressed today the need for Governments to work harder to identify and tear down barriers hampering the employment of disabled persons and preventing them from participating fully in their communities.

While remaining seized of ongoing situations of concern in Libya, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan and elsewhere, the Security Council planned to focus on preventive diplomacy when world leaders arrived for the opening of the upcoming General Assembly session, Nawaf Salam (Lebanon), Council President for September, said at Headquarters today.

While it was expected that States would continue to oppose the testing of nuclear weapons during the upcoming high-level meeting on the issue, it was more important to ensure the necessary ratifications to allow the entry into force of the international instrument banning tests, an official of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said at a Headquarters press conference today.

Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, told correspondents today that the upcoming annual Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organizations Conference in Germany — on the theme “Sustainable Societies; Responsive Citizens” — is an important opportunity for NGOs and civil society to meet and begin preparing for next year’s United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development — Rio+20 — which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June.

Marking World Humanitarian Day this morning, top United Nations officials recognized the sacrifices made by humanitarian workers around the globe, but stressed that it was also critical to use the event to redouble efforts to help those currently suffering in the Horn of Africa and elsewhere.

While humanitarian aid was reaching hundreds of thousands in the drought-devastated Horn of Africa, a still more extensive scale-up was needed, said the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator at a Headquarters press conference today.

Even as the withdrawal of militant Al-Shabaab forces marked a critical opportunity to reach Mogadishu’s starving population, fresh challenges — including insufficient manpower — now threatened humanitarian operations, said top officials during a Headquarters press conference today.

With more than 200,000 people having fled the Sudanese army’s operations in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, along with the decimation of crops and evidence of mass graves, a cleric from the province and representatives of international civil society called this afternoon on the Security Council to act.

Looking back over an “intense” three-year tenure at the helm of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, outgoing Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy said that, despite some shortcomings, blue helmets should be credited for their achievements in reducing the scale of conflicts around the world.