As the Sixth Committee (Legal) began its annual review of the report of the International Law Commission today, the Committee Chairperson, Isabelle Picco (Monaco), welcomed the presence of legal advisers from numerous capitals and expressed her confidence that their participation would enrich the debate on the Commission’s work.

The following press statement was issued today by Security Council President Ruhakana Rugunda (Uganda):

With less than three months remaining before the referendum in the south, the whole of Sudan was entering a crucial period, Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, told the Security Council today in a briefing that covered the situations in both Southern Sudan and Darfur.

Mounting concerns that advances in ballistic missile defence technology and recognition of the inherent instability — possible arms race in space and cascading proliferation on Earth — that could result from the pursuit of space weapons for security informed the debate in the Disarmament Committee today, which heard the introduction of two draft resolutions on the domain long hoped would be preserved for peaceful purposes to the benefit of all humankind.

Recent actions by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council recognizing a human right to water and sanitation were a “breakthrough” and the challenge now was to turn that right into a reality for the billions of people throughout the world who still lacked access, a United Nations expert told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today.

With information and communications technology increasingly driving development in everything from business to health-care services to education programmes, it was imperative that all countries had the necessary broadband connectivity, speakers told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today heard Secretariat officials unveil a set of recommendations that would move the United Nations a step closer to unifying the conditions of service for thousands of staff members around the world and carry an initial price tag of tens of millions of dollars.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message to the Security Council’s open debate on women, peace and security, in New York, today, 26 October:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message for the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, in Incheon, Republic of Korea, 26 October: