A Regional Meeting for Central African States on the implementation of the 2001 United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons will be jointly organized by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs in Kinshasa on 24 to 25 April.

On 22 April 2010, the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the deletion (de-listing) of the entry specified below from its Consolidated List. The Committee approved this de-listing following its review of the name, as called for in paragraph 25 of Security Council resolution 1822 (2008). The assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1904 (2009) therefore no longer apply to the following individual:

The Security Council must continue to improve its openness to non-Council-Member States, temporary members and the general public while ensuring its ability to act effectively and efficiently, speakers said in a day-long debate on the body’s working methods, in its chambers today.

“The violations of indigenous peoples are deep, systemic and widespread,”United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today, as he briefed delegates on the second year of his mandate.

The thirtieth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa will take place in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, from 26 to 30 April.

The wide-ranging efforts of the United Nations to better communicate with the world public will be reviewed in the thirty-second annual session of the Committee on Information, taking place at Headquarters from 26 April to 7 May. During the two-week session, delegations will review the activities of the Department of Public Information and its three subprogrammes -- Strategic Communications, News Services and Outreach Services -– in the period July 2009 to February 2010.

Concluding its special meeting on International Mother Earth Day this morning, the General Assembly heard appeals from developing States for concerted action to tackle environmental problems “consistent with moral and ethical values” at a time of great strain to the Earth. Recalling the events at Copenhagen, the representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines said that last-ditch efforts, though well intentioned, had produced a document that was “procedurally and substantively flawed”.

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan will visit United Nations Headquarters on 27 April to launch a new children’s book on cross-cultural understanding. The book, entitled "The Sandwich Swap", is a warm-hearted fable about friendship and tolerance across cultural lines. The story is based on an anecdote Her Majesty tells and which encapsulates, in today’s troubled times, the need for global understanding.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks at the Stony Brook University Earth Day celebration, themed “the role of women in environment in developing countries”, on 22 April:

The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today held an in-depth dialogue with representatives of two United Nations entities working to better integrate the concerns of indigenous peoples and enhance their participation in the Organization’s work in two vital areas: access and benefit sharing from genetic resources; and protecting the practices and innovations of indigenous and local communities.