Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message to the Global LGBTI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex] Conference, held in Montevideo from 13 to 15 July:

Meeting the broad goals laid out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development would require collaboration and commitment across all relevant sectors, speakers said today, as the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development continued into its second day.

The failure of Israeli and Palestinian leaders to advance peace had created a vacuum that extremists were stepping in to fill, Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon told the Security Council today, urging both sides immediately to begin discussions with the Middle East Quartet and to coordinate with regional stakeholders in efforts to break the entrenched political impasse.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the launch of the Global Partnership to End Violence against Children, in New York today:

The United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) welcomes the ceasefire agreement announced yesterday.  The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan, Ellen Margrethe Løj, urges security forces in Juba to allow unhindered access to UNMISS patrols to protect the civilian population.

Human rights offered States a clear path towards stability and prosperity, the General Assembly heard today at the opening of a two-day high-level thematic debate, with officials examining the United Nation’s shortcomings and its response to global trends.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Alessandra Vellucci of Italy as Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, a field office of the Department of Public Information that provides service to the United Nations Office at Geneva and to Switzerland.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, in New York today:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the high-level General Assembly thematic debate, “UN@70:  Human rights at the centre of the global agenda”, in New York today:

The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development began its 2016 annual session today, with a focus on its role as a central global platform for ensuring the world would meet its most critical development objectives.