A complex amalgam in Somalia of accelerated political progress and the unexpected withdrawal of insurgents from the capital — amid a deadly famine devastating large swaths of the country — made increased international support to the nation urgent at this critical time, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today. “This is an extraordinary moment for Somalia,” Augustine Mahiga said via video teleconference from Mogadishu.

Delegates from around the world have converged on Incheon, Republic of Korea, to participate in the third annual Global Model United Nations (GMUN) Conference. Organized by the United Nations Department of Public Information, it follows successful conferences at Geneva in 2009 and Kuala Lumpur in 2010. The Conference highlight will be an address by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 11 August.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the Global Model United Nations Conference, in Incheon, Republic of Korea, today, 11 August:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Martin Kobler of Germany as his Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). He will replace Ad Melkert of the Netherlands who served in Iraq since July 2009. The Secretary-General is grateful for Mr. Melkert’s leadership of UNAMI in implementing its mandate under Security Council resolution 1770 (2007) and subsequent resolutions.

The States parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea today opened its doors to fill a vacancy in the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, in the midst of that body’s annual session at Headquarters.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to a breakfast meeting with the diplomatic corps, in Seoul, today, 12 August:

The General Assembly is set to convene, on 22 September, a one-day High-Level Meeting at United Nations Headquarters to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. “The High-Level Meeting in September is an important opportunity for Member States to renew their common political will towards eradicating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,” said Joseph Deiss, President of the Assembly’s sixty-fifth session.

On 12 August 2011, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) approved the addition of the entry specified below to its Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1989 (2011) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

On 28 July 2011, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) approved the amendments specified with strikethrough and underline in the entries below to its List (the 1988 Sanctions List) of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1988 (2011) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations: