The Department of Public Information was the public voice of the Organization, and the promotion of multiculturalism and multilingualism must remain the hallmark of the United Nations, infusing efforts to achieve common undertakings and mature responses in every aspect of its work, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) heard today just prior to its approval, without a vote, of two draft resolutions on questions relating to information.

With five years left until the 2015 deadline for meeting the Millennium Development Goals, and millions of people being pushed deeper into poverty worldwide, the international community must take immediate and comprehensive remedial action at the regional, national and international levels, delegates emphasized today as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) considered the eradication of poverty and other development issues.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the Security Council debate on peace and security in Africa, in New York today, 22 October:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the United Nations Association-New York dinner on 21 October:

Facing new technological challenges, calming regional tensions, destroying arms and building strong common regulatory initiatives were among the themes of a basket of four resolutions and one decision tabled today as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) continued its thematic debates.

United Nations peacekeeping was a dynamic and essential element of the international community’s response to global peace and security threats, but success was never guaranteed because peacekeeping, almost by definition, went to the most physically and politically demanding environments, and the process faced rapidly diminishing resources, overstretch and the need for greater consensus, said the United Nations Peacekeeping Chief today in the Fourth Committee.

Recognizing that the African Union was contributing towards the maintenance of international peace and security by undertaking peacekeeping operations authorized by the Security Council, members of that 15-nation body today reaffirmed the need to enhance the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing for regional organizations when they took on peacekeeping under a United Nations mandate.

While approving a draft decision on the administration of justice at the United Nations, delegates of the Sixth Committee (Legal) this morning also discussed activities of the legal Programme of Assistance, and called for its funding from the United Nations regular budget, since the rule of law had steadily emerged as a universal aspiration.

In efforts towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, it would be impossible to tackle poverty effectively and comprehensively without both understanding its multidimensional nature and creating decent employment opportunities for all, the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.

Human rights were too often discussed in the abstract and, despite all the changes in the past 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, the collective challenge remained the same — bringing the vision closer to the ground, so it could “touch the lives of real people”, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today.