Taking note of the “grave financial situation” of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the General Assembly today requested Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to continue to support the Agency’s institutional strengthening through the provision of financial resources from the United Nations regular budget.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s address, as prepared for delivery, at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Association of Hungary, in Budapest today, 18 April:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Mbaranga Gasarabwe of Rwanda as the first Assistant Secretary-General for Safety and Security, following the General Assembly’s endorsement of his proposal to reclassify the post at that level.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the Summit on the Safe and Innovative Use of Nuclear Energy in Kyiv today, 19 April:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Patricia O’Brien, United Nations Legal Counsel and Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, to the event in support of the Trust Fund to Support Initiatives of States Countering Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, in Dubai, today, 19 April:

Deeply concerned that an estimated 358,000 women had died in 2008 from largely preventable complications relating to pregnancy and childbirth, the Commission on Population and Development concluded its forty-fourth session today by urging all Governments to redouble efforts for the elimination of preventable maternal morbidity and mortality by ensuring universal access to reproductive health, including family planning, by 2015.

Palestinians were ready, willing and would prefer to reach a peace treaty with Israel by September — the deadline set by United States President Barack Obama and endorsed by the European Union to end protracted negotiations — paving the way for Palestinian independence and United Nations membership, Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine, said today in the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the “25 Years after the Chernobyl Catastrophe: Safety for the Future” Conference, in Kyiv, today, 20 April:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks at the General Assembly International Mother Earth Day event on “Harmony with Nature”, in New York, 20 April: