Press Release

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Shigeru Mochida of Japan as his Deputy Special Representative for Security Sector Support and Rule of Law for the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT). He succeeds the late Takahisa Kawakami, also of Japan, who passed away on 15 March.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Ndolamb Ngokwey of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as his Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI), where he will also serve as United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of Valerie Amos, a national of the United Kingdom, as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. She succeeds John Holmes, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service to the Organization and commitment to alleviating the conditions of the many peoples affected by emergency situations.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Yuri Fedotov (Russian Federation) as the new Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). He succeeds Antonio Maria Costa in that position and as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV). The Secretary-General is grateful to Mr. Costa for the services he has rendered to the Organization and for his commitment in leading UNODC since 2002.

On 9 July 2010, the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the deletion (de-listing) of the two entries specified below from its Consolidated List. The Committee approved these de-listings following its review of the names, as called for in paragraph 25 of Security Council resolution 1822 (2008). The assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1904 (2009) therefore no longer apply to the following entities:

The following Security Council press statement was read out today by Council President U. Joy Ogwu (Nigeria):

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for Nelson Mandela Day, to be observed on 18 July:

Marking the 2010 International Year for Biodiversity, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today designated two-time Academy Award-nominated actor Edward Norton as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for biodiversity.

Following are Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks to the panel discussion on the role of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNICTRAL) at the national and international levels, 7 July, in New York: