Very good progress had been made so far in the United Nations-mediated negotiations on the long-running Cyprus dispute, including a broad measure of agreement on the three “chapters” of governance and power-sharing, the economy, and European Union matters, Alexander Downer, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus, said at a Headquarters press conference today.
In progress at UNHQ
Press Conference
A new study by the World Bank had confirmed that indigenous people, making up 5 per cent of the world’s population, were still among the poorest of the poor, although findings indicated that indigenous peoples in Asia were closing the gap faster than indigenous peoples in other parts of the world.
The Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Operations in Gaza today described the humanitarian plight of the people there as bewilderingly difficult and a struggle to survive on a daily basis, as the third year of the blockade approached and 18 months after the last round of conflict that had wreaked tremendous devastation.
After two-and-a-half years, the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala had achieved some successes in the fight, its Commissioner, Carlos Castresana Fernández, told correspondents today at Headquarters.
Georgia stood ready to talk with the Russian Federation “anytime, anywhere” without any conditions but one: that Russia respect international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbours, Georgia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Grigol Vashadze, told correspondents today at Headquarters.
The Government of Brazil would use confiscated proceeds from money-laundering and other crimes to fund implementation of the main United Nations treaties on transnational organized crime and corruption, the country’s National Secretary for Justice said in Salvador, Brazil, today.
The Government of New Zealand was now in support of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Pita Sharples, Minister of Māori Affairs of New Zealand, told correspondents today at a Headquarters press conference on the opening day of the ninth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Just back from Kyrgyzstan on a fact-finding mission as the Secretary-General's special envoy, Jan Kubis, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, briefed correspondents at Headquarters today on the situation in that country, where deadly public demonstrations over the President’s alleged pervasive corruption and nepotism had led to the resignation of the Government and eventual departure of the leader himself.
The December 2007 assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, which could have been prevented by adequate security, was followed by a severely flawed investigation, according to the report of the United Nations independent investigation released to correspondents at Headquarters press conference this afternoon.
Urging reporters in New York to “keep the focus on Haiti”, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today said that “although commendable progress has been made, the situation remains dire” three months after the massive earthquake that killed nearly 250,000 people, left 1 million others homeless and levelled the capital, Port-au-Prince.