Addressing the first meeting of the 2011 substantive session of the Special Committee on Decolonization, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called today for “concrete results” in the quest for self-determination by the world’s 16 remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to meetings organized by the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs in Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Tokyo to launch a signature campaign for the start of negotiations for a convention banning nuclear weapons, on 15 February:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the launch of UN Women in New York, today, 24 February:

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti ( Brazil):

Guinea-Bissau had made progress towards emerging from the political turmoil of the past few years, including the approval of a road map for security-sector reform, but deep concerns remained, representatives of the Secretariat and the Peacebuilding Commission told the Security Council today. “There has been progress in the political and security environments, although the situation remains complex and tenuous,” said Joseph Mutaboba, Representative of the Secretary-General.

While more Governments were adopting laws and policies to address the multiple forms of violence against girls, those youths still bore the heaviest burden of the failure to secure equitable development for all — as victims of female genital mutilation, rape and both commercial and sexual exploitation — a scenario which, if left unchecked, would morally doom efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals, the Commission on the Status of Women heard today.

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

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the Security Council on peace and security in Africa, in New York, today, 25 February:

Warning that “fundamental peace and security issues are at stake in Libya”, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today briefed the Security Council on the situation in that country — where more than 1,000 people have been killed as security forces and militiamen loyal to leader Muammar Al-Qadhafi continued their deadly assault on civilian protesters — and urged members to consider concrete action to stop the violence and end the loss of life.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message on the twentieth anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait and fiftieth anniversary of its independence, today, 26 February, in New York: