With the successful holding of its presidential election on 25 October 2015, Côte d’Ivoire had reached a critical milestone in consolidating long-term peace and stability while advancing national reconciliation and strengthening the security sector remained key challenges on the path to lasting stability, the Security Council heard during a briefing today.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Elbio Rosselli (Uruguay):

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Elbio Rosselli (Uruguay):

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the handover ceremony of the chairmanship of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, in New York today:

UNICEF says nearly 24 million children in 22 conflict-affected countries worldwide — that is one in four children — are out of school.  South Sudan has the highest proportion, with more than half its primary and lower secondary age children not accessing education, with Niger a close second, followed by Sudan and Afghanistan.

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

Delays in implementing elements of Mali’s 2015 peace agreement could unravel the hard-won confidence built between the signatories to the accord, United Nations peacekeeping chief Hervé Ladsous warned today, while briefing the Security Council on the situation in that country.

On 11 January 2016, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities removed the name below from the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List after concluding its consideration of the delisting requests for this name submitted through the Office of the Ombudsperson established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1904 (2009), and after considering the Comprehensive Report of the Ombudsperson on this delisting request.

The Secretary-General today marked the seventieth anniversary of the first meeting of the General Assembly.  Calling the Assembly a “Parliament for all people”, he said that although the resolutions adopted by it may not all be acted on right away, they stand as our common position on the most pressing issues of our times.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s statement on the sixth anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, in New York today: