In progress at UNHQ

International Community Must Aid Afghanistan in Direct Talks between Government, Armed Groups, Top United Nations Official Tells Security Council

SC/11936

The progress Afghanistan had recently made in the interrelated economic, security and political areas should neither be undervalued nor breed complacency, the top United Nations official in that country told the Security Council today, urging the international community to work towards lasting peace and reconciliation by facilitating direct talks between the Government and armed groups.

Secretary-General, at Washington Forum, Calls on Humanitarian, Development Communities to Strengthen Links between Early Recovery, Long-Term Growth

SG/SM/16862-ENV/DEV/1529-IHA/1370

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Thomas Gass, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, to Interaction:  Forum 2015, in Washington, D.C., today:

Crippling Trade Policies, Brain Drain, Sluggish Economy Constrain Puerto Rico’s Progress, Petitioners Tell Decolonization Committee as Session Resumes

GA/COL/3281

Puerto Rico remained locked in a cycle of poverty, brain drain and sluggish economic development caused by the “imperialist” policies of the United States, the Special Committee of 24 was told today as it heard from more than 30 petitioners on the matter and approved a resolution urging the United States to allow Puerto Ricans to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination.