Press Release

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the twenty-sixth Ministerial Session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), delivered by Bader Omar al Dafa, ESCWA Executive Secretary, in Beirut today, 19 May:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the official presentation of the Heidelberg Darfur Dialogue Outcome Document, delivered by Djibril Yipènè Bassolé, Joint African Union-United Nations Chief Mediator for Darfur, in Berlin, today, 19 May:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Laura Vaccari, Chief of the Decolonization Unit, Department of Political Affairs, to the Pacific Regional Seminar on Implementation of the Second Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, in Nouméa, New Caledonia, 18-20 May:

In a message to open the Pacific Regional Seminar on the Implementation of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all involved to undertake “fresh and creative efforts” towards full implementation of decolonization.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks to the international conference “Africa, an Opportunity for the World: Realities and Challenges”, in Yaoundé, today, 18 May:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the International Peace Institute (IPI) Seminar on Peacemaking and Peacekeeping, delivered today by Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, in Vienna:

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message to the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, in Incheon, today, 17 May:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to succeed Yvo de Boer. The appointment has been made after consultations with the Conference of Parties through its Bureau. The Secretary-General is grateful to Mr. de Boer for his dedicated service and tireless efforts on behalf of the climate change agenda.

Countries will open negotiations today on the road back to Rio, where, in 1992, countries agreed on the landmark Agenda 21, the blueprint for sustainable development. In 2012, countries will meet again in Rio de Janeiro to determine the next steps for achieving sustainable development — to manage and protect the ecosystem and bring about a more prosperous future for everyone.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks to the International Forum on the Role of Leadership in Promoting Gender Equality in Kigali, today, 17 May: