Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s opening remarks to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Advocates Meeting, in Madrid, today, 16 July:

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

The General Assembly extended the terms of office of seven permanent judges and nine ad litem judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, as well as the terms of office of 13 permanent judges and 10 ad litem judges on the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in order for those courts to meet their revised completion strategies.

The General Assembly today voted unanimously to create a new body for accelerating gender equality and women’s empowerment, crowning four-years of tough negotiations to streamline and raise the profile of the United Nations activities to promote the rights of women and girls.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the Security Council’s open debate on preventive diplomacy in Africa, as delivered by Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro, in New York, today, 16 July:

The following Security Council press statement on the terrorist attacks in Zahedan, Iran, was read out today by Council President U. Joy Ogwu (Nigeria):

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

In a world virtually ruled by new technologies and with millions of people obsessed with instant access to information through mobile networks and the Internet, cybersecurity must be placed high on the United Nations agenda, warned Economic and Social Council Vice-President Somduth Soborun of Mauritius.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s remarks to the Inter-Parliamentary Union World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, “Parliaments in Time of Crisis: Securing Global Democratic Accountability”, In Geneva, today, 19 July: