Humanitarian issues

GENEVA, 20 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) — clear roles and mandates are frequently lacking from national platforms for disaster risk reduction, said several government representatives meeting today on the international framework for disaster risk reduction to be adopted in 2015. To be effective, such platforms should involve coordination among all the relevant actors, including the private sector and civil society, which were also part of this morning’s discussions.

The following statement was issued on 21 April by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Kyung-wha Kang (Republic of Korea) as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. She will replace Catherine Bragg of Canada, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and dedication to humanitarian issues.

Following are the closing remarks of UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson to the Special Thematic Session of the General Assembly on Water and Disasters, as prepared for delivery, in New York, 6 March:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s opening remarks to the Pledging Conference on Syria in Kuwait City on 30 January:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s closing remarks to the Pledging Conference on Syria, in Kuwait City on 30 January:

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

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) High-Level Conference in New York today, 11 December:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Abdullah al Matouq of Kuwait as his Humanitarian Envoy for Kuwait. The Secretary-General looks forward to Mr. Al Matouq working closely with the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs to build stronger partnerships in Kuwait and the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message to the Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, in New York, 17 September: