TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, 12 January 2009

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Secretary-General condemns firing of rockets from southern lebanon

 

Towards Israel, urges parties to exercise maximum restraint

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

PRESIDENTs OF UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL AND CHAIRMeN

 

OF MILITARY STAFF COMMITTEE IN 2009

 

In accordance with the principle of monthly alphabetical rotation, the following are the Presidents of the United Nations Security Council and the Chairmen of the Military Staff Committee for 2009:

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) forwarded 12 draft resolutions to the General Assembly today on weapons of mass destruction, conventional weapons and a new one on no first placement of weapons in outer space, which stresses the urgency of preventing an arms race in outer space.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki‑moon announced today the appointment of Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas, born in Uruguay and a United States national, as Assistant Secretary-General, Controller, Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, Department of Management.  Ms. Bartsiotas will replace María Eugenia Casar, who has been appointed as Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President María Cristina Perceval (Argentina):

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today examined how the budget of the United Nations would be affected should the General Assembly adopt a draft resolution on the implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024.

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

The Secretary-General is greatly concerned by the deteriorating situation in Burkina Faso and saddened by the loss of life due to recent events.  He calls on all parties to refrain from violence and exercise calm.  His Special Representative for West Africa, Mohammed ibn Chambas, will visit the country tomorrow.

During the month of October, the Security Council had done significant work to find consensus views on thematic issues at the same time that it addressed multiple crisis situations worldwide, the Permanent Representative of Argentina, President of the body, said in a monthly wrap-up meeting.