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

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly on the proposed budget for the biennium 2016-2017, in New York today:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by David Nabarro, his Special Representative for Food Security and Nutrition, for the forty-second session of the Committee on World Food Security, in Rome today:

Petitioners on the question of Western Sahara voiced strident opinions on the long-standing dispute as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its annual debate on decolonization matters this morning, with experts warning that the contested territory could become a “safe haven for terrorism” if the issue was not promptly resolved.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the General Assembly’s formal debate on peace operations today:

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Román Oyarzun Marchesi (Spain):

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has expressed anger at the murder of a staff member today in Kandahar.  The Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Nicholas Haysom, has confirmed that the staff member, Toorpaki Ulfat, was a respected human rights defender.  Initial reports indicate that she was killed by gunfire from unknown persons on a motorcycle.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the high-level event marking Africa Week, in New York today:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks at the commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of the United Nations, in Tehran today:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the Peoples World Conference on Climate Change and the Defence of Life, in Cochabamba, Bolivia, 10 October: