Following is the text of UN Secretary‑General Ban Ki‑moon’s video message for the sixtieth anniversary of the Hospitality Committee for United Nations Delegations, in New York today:

The collapse of the international financial system in 2008 was partly attributable to the conflicts of interest implicit in agency-client relationships and the lack of transparency in the industry, experts said today as the Economic and Social Council held a panel exploring how countries, regional organizations and United Nations agencies could work together towards a fair, transparent and more comprehensive international credit ratings system that supported sustainable development.

Amid ongoing formulation of a blueprint for the post-2015 development agenda, diverse positions on aid, climate finance and sustainable development funding and strategies for optimizing relevant proposals emerged during today’s debate in the General Assembly on the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing.

The General Assembly would decide to establish an ad hoc committee to elaborate a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring processes, according to the terms of one of six draft resolutions approved today by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial).

In their recent meeting, the Secretary-General and Catherine Samba-Panza, Head of State of the Transition for the Central African Republic, both noted that, despite some progress, the country’s humanitarian and security situation remained fragile and that urgent progress was needed on an inclusive political process.

The deadly Ebola outbreak could inflict $3-4 billion in losses on the Sub-Saharan African economy and had already begun to erode economic growth in the hardest-hit countries, the Economic and Social Council heard today as it considered how the epidemic could endanger sustainable development.

Following are UN Secretary‑General Ban Ki‑moon’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, on the centenary of the First World War “Christmas Truce”, in New York today:

On 3 December 2014, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013) concerning the Central African Republic held an exchange of views on the final report of the Panel of Experts (S/2014/762) and the implementation of sanctions measures pursuant to resolutions 2127 (2013) and 2134 (2014) with the representatives to the United Nations of the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Chad, Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.

The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), today adopted 25 resolutions — 14 requiring recorded votes — and four decisions on an array of subjects spanning information, decolonization, the Middle East, special political missions, atomic radiation, and outer space.

United Nations Secretary‑General Ban Ki‑moon today announced the appointment of Raisedon Zenenga of Zimbabwe as his Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).