Meetings Coverage

BONN, 4 September — Speakers at this morning’s DPI/NGO Conference round table held a spirited discussion on the role of the green economy, not only in environmental stewardship, but also in ending poverty and advancing social justice.

BONN, 5 September — The sixty-fourth annual Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization (DPI/NGO) Conference, which focused on the role of civil society in creating and maintaining sustainable communities and developing responsive citizens, closed its three-day session this afternoon, with a call to action that encouraged participants to continue the dialogue they had begun in Bonn and to add action to all the talk.

BONN, 3 September — “We are exhausting the capacity of our planet to guarantee our sustainable future,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a video message today as the sixty-fourth annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference opened in Bonn, Germany. “The solution lies in a fundamental transformation of our consumption patterns and lifestyles,” he added, thanking the large number of representatives from non-governmental organizations in attendance.

BONN, 3 September — Stressing that consumption habits had to change if people really wanted to address the growing environmental crisis, civil society representatives called on all sectors of society to use more responsible and sustainable consumption and production practices, as the sixty-fourth annual Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization (DPI/NGO) Conference continued in Bonn, Germany, this afternoon.

Stressing that the voluntary moratoriums of nuclear-weapon States were no substitute for a legal prohibition, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today urged Governments that had not yet done so to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and bolster other efforts to create a world free of nuclear testing and nuclear weapons.

Recent violence accompanying a customs dispute between Kosovo and Serbia was a stark reminder of the threats to the former’s security, the Secretary-General’s Acting Special Representative there told the Security Council today, emphasizing that both sides must refrain from actions leading to an escalation of tensions and demonstrate confidence in their European Union-mediated dialogue.

In the wake of attacks against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the Security Council today extended its mandate for one year, until 31 August 2012, condemning all terrorist attacks against it in the strongest terms.

As fighting wound down in Libya and urgent humanitarian needs were met, the most important job for the United Nations was ensuring that multilateral, regional and international efforts complemented each other and were responsive to Libyan wishes, Secretary-Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council today.

The Security Council today committed itself to strengthening its partnership with countries contributing military and police contingents to United Nations peacekeeping operations as it held a day-long review of peacekeeping involving some 48 speakers.

Recent terror attacks and escalating violence in the Middle East showed the urgent need to make progress towards the two-State solution, but the political deadlock persisted, B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told the Security Council this morning.