United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Saint Lucia from New York in the early afternoon of Wednesday, 3 July.

The Security Council’s youth, peace and security agenda is beginning to make a difference for young people in conflict zones and other vulnerable situations, but much work remains to effectively incorporate their voices, energy and ideas into efforts to build and sustain peace, youth advocates told the 15-member organ today.

From climate change to burdensome debt, the challenges of small island developing States, least developed countries and landlocked developing countries were spotlighted today as the Economic and Social Council continued the ministerial segment of its High-Level Political Form on Sustainable Development.

Delegates called for finishing “the unfinished business” of promoting and protecting women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights, as the General Assembly today concluded its high-level meeting commemorating the twenty‑fifth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development.

In Venezuela, a mass polio vaccination campaign for more than 3.1 million children under the age of five started today, led by the Ministry of Health, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for Nelson Mandela International Day, observed on 18 July:

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Delegates today called on a United Nations war crime court to complete the remaining judicial proceedings for atrocities committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, as the Security Council heard briefings from top officials of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).

Achieving continuous progress on women’s empowerment hinges on keeping the “promise of Cairo” alive, speakers stressed, as the General Assembly convened a high-level plenary meeting to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the landmark International Conference on Population and Development.

Following are UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ remarks to the General Assembly meeting marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, in New York today: