Following are Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s opening remarks at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Coordination Mechanism Meeting, in Santiago, Chile, today, 8 February:

Following is the text of a joint statement issued by witnesses to the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Sudan, today, 8 February:

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended six entities for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and postponed consideration of 25 applications in the penultimate day of its 2011 regular session, which heard extensive debate over the appropriate rights and procedures required to pose questions to groups seeking standing in the 19-member body.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the General Assembly’s informal thematic debate on disaster risk reduction, in New York today, 9 February:

On 8 February 2011, the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the addition of the two entries specified below to its Consolidated List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1904 (2009) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

Welcoming the 7 February official announcement of the Southern Sudan referendum’s final results, which showed 98.83 per cent of voters choosing independence, the Security Council called today on the international community to lend its full support to all Sudanese people as they built a peaceful and prosperous future.

The following Security Council press statement was issued on 18 January by Council President Ivan Barbalić (Bosnia and Herzegovina):

Wrapping up its 2011 regular session, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended special consultative status for 24 entities to the Economic and Social Council, boosting the session to a record 112 organizations that had been recommended for status, said the Committee’s Chairman.

As the General Assembly convened its first-ever informal thematic debate on disaster risk reduction today, senior United Nations officials called urgently for investment in advanced planning and sound policies to help countries avert natural hazards that would cost more in human and financial terms than steps to prevent them or reduce their impact.