United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Mariano Fernández of Chile as his Special Representative for Haiti and Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

An exhibition entitled “The Right to Water and Indigenous Peoples” will open with a cultural event and reception on Tuesday, 17 May, at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Gallery of the Visitors Lobby, at United Nations Headquarters, marking the tenth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The Commission on Sustainable Development ended its nineteenth session early Saturday morning, unable to agree on policy decisions on practical measures to advance chemical and waste management, transform transport and mining practices, and establish a long-awaited 10-Year Framework of Programmes for sustainable consumption and production patterns, which was first called for at the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, as delivered by Jean Christophe Bouvier, Director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Office for Europe, to the Fourth Nevsky International Ecological Congress, in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, 16 May:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, as delivered by Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, to the Sixteenth Meteorological Congress, in Geneva, 16 May:

Despite the death of Osama bin Laden, the Security Council’s three counter-terrorism committees must continue to strengthen their efforts through enhanced effectiveness and cooperation with Member States, speakers said today during the regular six-month briefings by the Chairpersons of the subsidiary bodies. Peter Wittig (Germany), Chair of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999) on Al-Qaida and the Taliban, said Bin Laden’s death was clearly a turning point.

The annual United Nations forum on indigenous issues kicked off today with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling on delegates to make further strides against the marginalization of indigenous communities, which still made up an estimated one third of the world’s rural poor.

The Security Council this morning extended the Panel of Experts that monitors the arms embargo and sanctions on those who impede peace in Sudan, particularly in the violence-wracked Darfur region, until 19 February 2012.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended 43 entities for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, and postponed consideration of 18 applications, as it resumed its 2011 session.