Without a credible path out of the profound, persistent deadlock in the Middle East peace process, coupled with far-reaching steps on the ground, theviability of the two-State solution and the Palestinian Authority’s state-building agenda was in jeopardy, the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative warned today.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the General Assembly meeting on the follow-up to the 2010 High-Level Meeting on the Conference on Disarmament and Multilateral Disarmament Negotiations, in New York, 27 July:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Major General Abdul Hafiz of Bangladesh as the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

Following are Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the unveiling of the London Olympic Countdown Clock, in New York, 27 July:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Lieutenant General Tadesse Werede Tesfay (Ethiopia) as Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). Lieutenant General Tesfay will be responsible for discharging the mandate of UNISFA, as contained in Security Council resolution 1990 of 27 June 2011.

Pressure mounted today for a way to be found to open a passage in the long-deadlocked Conference on Disarmament that would engage members in negotiations on such matters as a ban on fissile material for nuclear weapons, as the General Assembly held a follow-up to last year’s high-level meeting on revitalizing that body.

The Security Council held a discussion today with the military commanders of key United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa and the Middle East, who highlighted their strategies for overcoming the challenges they faced in unpredictable settings impacted by everything from sporadic armed conflict and unfriendly local populations, to lingering political tensions, long–term humanitarian needs and inclement weather.

Following are Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the General Assembly plenary meeting on the human right to water and sanitation, today, 27 July, in New York:

The head of United Nations peacekeeping operations reported to the Security Council today that the initial rollout of the newly authorized security force for Abyei was under way, with some 500 Ethiopian troops headed to the disputed area straddling Northern and Southern Sudan, the flashpoint for recent violence between the two sides.

The Palestinian people had completed their two-year state-building programme, fulfilling a substantial part of their “contract” with the United Nations, and it was now time for the international community to uphold its end of the deal so that they would see the Organization admit their viable and independent State during the General Assembly’s sixty-sixth session, Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer for Palestine, told the Palestinian Rights Committee today.