General Assembly

VIENNA, 31 March — The United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, focusing on “Speeding up relief, recovery and reconstruction in post-war Gaza”, opened this morning at the headquarters in Vienna, hearing a message from the Secretary-General and statements by the senior adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas representing the State of Palestine, the Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria and the Chairperson of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People at the United Nations Office in Vienna (Vienna International Centre) in Boardroom D of Building C on 31 March and 1 April.

SENDAI, JAPAN, 18 March — Death and destruction from earthquakes, extreme weather and other hazards around the world would be decreased significantly by 2030 according to goals set today by countries meeting at the Third World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction, which closed this evening in Sendai, Japan.

SENDAI, JAPAN, 17 March — Public investment had substantial strategic, operational and tactical benefits for disaster risk reduction, as it could increase resilience, save lives and accelerate recovery of devastated homes, institutions and infrastructure, the Sendai World Conference heard today during its fifth and final ministerial round table.

SENDAI, JAPAN, 16 March — Speakers in Sendai today called for a paradigm shift to avert the calamitous effects of disasters from a top-down approach to a bottom-up approach that drew on contributions from local leaders and communities, districts and villages, during a discussion titled “Governing Disaster Risk:  Overcoming Challenges”.

SENDAI, JAPAN, 15 March — Building back better after earthquakes, cyclones and other destructive forces and international cooperation in reducing harm from future crises were the focus of high-level discussions today in Sendai, Japan, as the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction continued.

SENDAI, JAPAN, 14 March — “Sustainability starts in Sendai,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared at the opening of the Third World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan, asserting the largest-ever high-level meeting on the subject was “the first stop on our journey to a new future”.

Despite gains made since the 1995 adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action for Women, a renewed commitment to eliminating inequality was vital to reaching sustainable development goals, senior Government and United Nations officials said as they opened today’s General Assembly thematic debate aimed at inspiring women’s advancement in the run-up to agreement on a post-2015 agenda.

Facing unparalleled global pressures, with a rising Ebola virus death toll, rampant extremism that was escalating “terror to a new era and a new level” and unwilling refugees fleeing elevated sea-levels, the international community must tackle those formidable challenges with a sense of resolve and resilience, General Assembly President Sam Kutesa (Uganda) said at the opening of the sixty-ninth session of the 193-nation organ.

The Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People issued the following statement today: