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

Despite progress by a growing number of countries towards striking the balance between growth and respect for the planet, more concrete, holistic and law-based approaches would be needed for the drive to true sustainable development, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs told the General Assembly today.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the tenth anniversary of MOU Universities Network, in New York today:

Following three weeks of deliberations, the Disarmament Commission reached consensus today on the draft report it would send to the General Assembly and on the reports of its subsidiary bodies, as it concluded its 2017 substantive session.

The World Food Programme airlifted life-saving food supplies to drought-stricken Somalia today, for the most vulnerable people, particularly children.  A Boeing 747 arrived in Mogadishu carrying 47 metric tons of high-energy biscuits, as well as critical medical supplies on behalf of the World Health Organization.

The Economic and Social Council today adopted a resolution calling on all organizations in the United Nations system to make full use of the United Nations Staff College in Turin, Italy, and welcoming its role as a catalyst for organizational change.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Maurizio Giuliano of Italy as Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Rio de Janeiro, which provides service to Brazil.  He assumed his duties today.

More than 1,000 indigenous participants from all over the world will be at United Nations Headquarters from 24 April to 5 May to attend the sixteenth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Vera Songwe of Cameroon as the next Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).  She will succeed Carlos Lopes of Guinea-Bissau, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his commitment and dedicated service to the Organization.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Brussels from New York on Tuesday morning, 4 April, where he would participate the following day at the Brussels Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region, which the United Nations co-hosted with the European Union.