The United Nations Security Council today reasserted its strong condemnation of the recruitment, killing, maiming, raping and other abuse of children during armed conflict, and expressed its readiness to take targeted measures against persistent perpetrators of those crimes.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at a reception marking the fortieth anniversary of the International Peace Institute (IPI), in New York on 16 June:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on transnational organized crime, in New York today, 17 June:

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

Continuing its annual session this morning, the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea decided to nominate States with a permanent diplomatic or consular presence in Berlin or Hamburg as a member and alternate member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea’s Staff Pension Committee.

Weapons-tracing data was currently often scattered, unreliable and fragmented, hindering the effectiveness of the world’s attack on the illegal small arms trade, many delegates told the Fourth Biennial Meeting on combating the trade today, as States also began consideration of its final document by agreeing on the annex covering the international tracing instrument.

Fine-tuning existing tools to stem the flow of the nefarious illicit arms trade topped a volley of suggestions that were the focus of debate today as the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States on combating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons continued.

States parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea concluded their twentieth Meeting this afternoon, approving the 2011-2012 budget for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, as well as salary increases for its judges, and recommendations on how the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf could better manage its burgeoning workload.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) concluded its 2010 resumed session today by adopting its draft report, with the understanding that it would be finalized with the Secretariat’s support and in consultation with Committee members, as appropriate.

The Presidents of the tribunals on crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, reporting on both progress and unforeseen delays in completing their work, called for greater assistance in that effort as they briefed the Security Council this morning.