Continuing its general debate on decolonization issues today, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) focused its attention on the question of Western Sahara, as petitioners appealed for resolute action on the part of the United Nations and the wider international community to effectively tackle a raft of injustices they believed gripped the region, including terrorism, slavery, natural resource exploitation and human rights abuses.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Americans for UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) Gala Dinner for the Health and Dignity of Women, in New York on 7 October:

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this morning to consider whether to impose limits on speaking time during its discussions, set one-time deadlines for submitting draft proposals, and whether to eliminate its general debate altogether, among other ideas proposed for improving its working methods.

Pressed to conclude their work over the next two years, top officials from the United Nations war crimes Tribunals investigating atrocities committed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the Balkan wars of the 1990s, today appealed to the General Assembly for more time, resources and, especially, incentives to help attract and hold onto qualified staff.

As the Fourth Committee continued its general debate on decolonization issues today, delegations praised the progress that had been made towards self-determination in the Pacific region, while expressing frustration with the scant progress towards reducing the number overall of United Nations-listed Non-Self-Governing Territories, including Western Sahara.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at a screening of the film "Killing in the Name", in New York, 8 October:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the extraordinary session of the Summit Conference of the League of Arab States, delivered by Robert Serry, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, in Sirte, Libya, 9 October:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message marking the sixtieth anniversary of World Vision Korea, today, 11 October:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the International Cooperation Conference for the Reconstruction with Transformation of Guatemala, delivered by Alicia Bárcena, Executive Director, United Nations Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in Guatemala City, today, 11 October: