With pirates and the networks that supported them still outfoxing foreign naval patrols, kidnapping seafarers and disrupting shipping lanes, representatives of the diplomatic Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia today said that combating the scourge required scaled-up resources, enhanced land- and sea-based strategies and more political commitment on the part of the Somali Government.
In progress at UNHQ
Press Conference
The Security Council’s adoption in June of resolutions 1988 (2011) and 1989 (2011), which split the Al-Qaida and Taliban sanctions regimes, had been a significant step forward in the capacity of the Office of the Ombudsperson for the Security Council’s “Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee” to deliver fairness, transparency and due process, correspondents heard today at a Headquarters press conference.
A worsening drought and increasing pressure on scarce resources threatened to push Ethiopia into “famine-like conditions”, the top United Nations humanitarian official said today in a Headquarters press conference on the heels of her recent visit to that country.
After eight years of occupation by Coalition forces, said experts today from the United Nations Working Group that monitors mercenaries and mercenary-related activities, the security sector in Iraq faced a vacuum that opened the door to private military and security companies.
Jamaica’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations announced at Headquarters today the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to launch a worldwide design competition for the permanent memorial that would be placed at the United Nations to honour the memory of the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.
Answering the international community’s call to strengthen and build the rule of law in countries in transition or emerging from conflict, senior United Nations officials today at Headquarters launched a special instrument created to monitor changes in the performance and fundamental characteristics of criminal justice institutions, especially in conflict and post-conflict environments.
Despite being a cornerstone of democratic governance, the rule of law still “rules women out” in too many countries around the world, Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, said at a Headquarters press conference today as she launched the first edition of the gender entity’s flagship report, "Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice".
With the independence of South Sudan due in a matter of days, the Security Council would be paying particular attention to the world’s newest country, as well as larger regional issues and dynamics, Peter Wittig (Germany), Council President for July, said at a Headquarters press conference today.
Ahead of tonight’s Gala Dinner to honour recipients of its 2011 Awards at New York Headquarters, the Spanish non-governmental organization Women Together said today that this year’s event was intended to highlight the work of exceptional individuals in different fields, countries and situations.
With malnutrition rates in Somalia approaching emergency proportions, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the East African country today sounded the alarm about the effects of the deadly confluence of events driven by prolonged drought and skyrocketing global food and commodity prices.