Press Release

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the first international human rights treaty of the twenty-first century. On 10 May, Colombia became the 100th country to ratify this Convention. In doing so, it joins the ranks of those countries that now support greater access, backed by their legal systems, for citizens with disabilities to fully participate in the lives of their communities, including the political process and health and education services.

A new partnership to assist local communities in managing ever-increasing amounts of waste — and the growing presence of chemicals and hazardous and toxic elements in the general waste stream — was launched today at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development.

The new Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations, Haniff Hussein, today presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The new Permanent Representative of Iceland to the United Nations, Gréta Gunnarsdóttir, presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today.

Pajo Avirovikj, the new Permanent Representative of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the United Nations, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the International Day of Families, to be observed on 15 May:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, to the opening of the high-level segment of the nineteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-19), in New York, 11 May:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the second International Forum on Sport, Peace and Development, in Geneva today, 11 May:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Angela Kane, Under-Secretary-General for Management, to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Champions of the Earth award ceremony, in New York on 10 May:

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Gérard Araud (France):