In progress at UNHQ

Press Conference


Stressing that social security was a human right, a senior ILO official today spotlighted the issue of social protection and its importance in poverty eradication at a Headquarters press conference on a United Nations-backed programme aimed at promoting investment in and access to essential services and social transfers for poor and vulnerable communities.
The border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, which erupted in exchanges of fire earlier this month, must be resolved through bilateral negotiations, Thailand’s Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said at a Headquarters news conference today.
A blossoming partnership between the United Nations and a global youth sporting summit was set to boost activism and encourage dialogue among young people, the event’s founder said at a Headquarters press conference.
Disaster risk reduction was crucial to protect gains made in reaching the Millennium Development Goals, especially in poor countries where capacities were low and massive losses would only perpetuate a cycle of poverty and disempowerment, General Assembly President Joseph Deiss said today at a Headquarters press conference.
In a move hailed as an important first step towards the protection of children in Afghanistan, that country’s Government recently signed a landmark agreement to release children from the national security forces, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said today at a Headquarters press conference.
Leading environmental activists lauded today the Rwandan Government’s plan to restore all of the steadily recovering Central African nation’s lost forest lands and boost national development as a far-sighted move that should be replicated by other Governments.
While presiding over the Security Council in February, Brazil’s emphasis would be on the relationship between security and development, with the aim of evolving a more comprehensive approach to issues of peace and security, the country’s Permanent Representative said at a Headquarters press conference today as she outline the programme of work for the month.
The International Year of Forests was launched at United Nations Headquarters in New York on a day when ice, rain and snow were blanketing the region, yet the point of the observance was to heighten awareness of the value of forests in people’s lives and to galvanize action for forests around the world, correspondents heard today at a press conference highlighting the Forest Film Festival.
As the United Nations kicked off the International Year of Forests today at Headquarters, a renowned environmental activist urged Governments and other stakeholders worldwide to take action to protect the planet’s vital forestry resources on which 1.6 billion depended for their livelihood and subsistence.