United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Feridun Sinirlioğlu of Türkiye as the Special Coordinator, Independent Assessment Mandated by Security Council Resolution 2679 (2023).  The Secretary-General has asked Mr. Sinirlioğlu to lead the independent assessment with a view to providing recommendations for an integrated and coherent approach to address the current challenges faced by Afghanistan.

Emphasizing the importance of trustworthy, verifiable information in a world beset with crises and in an environment rife with inaccurate reports, delegates today commended an ongoing initiative by the Department of Global Communications to draft a code of conduct to promote integrity in public information, while urging it to mainstream multilingualism and redouble efforts to combat misinformation and disinformation.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the 2023 Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum, held in New York and virtually from 25 to 27 April:

As it operates within a multilateral system facing the greatest strain since the Organization was created nearly 80 years ago, the international community must recommit to its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council today during a day-long open debate on effective multilateralism.

The United Nations team in Botswana, following a polio outbreak, supported authorities with two immunization campaigns targeting children under the age of seven, with nearly 30 districts targeted with house-to-house visits and immunization efforts in health centres, and over 700,000 children reached.

Amid a plethora of global, overlapping crises on the United Nations agenda, the Department of Global Communications remains guided by a systematic, data‑driven approach focused on audiences and impact as it communicates facts, captures imaginations and conveys hope, its top official told the Committee on Information during the opening of the forty-fifth session today.

After three weeks of discussions, the Disarmament Commission concluded its 2023 substantive session today, with the approval by consensus of its draft report to the General Assembly, as well as the reports of its subsidiary bodies.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council Meeting on “Effective Multilateralism Through the Defence of the Principles of the United Nations Charter and the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law”, in New York today:

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks on Sudan to the Security Council meeting on “Effective Multilateralism through the Defence of the Principles of the United Nations Charter and the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law”, in New York today:

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the opening of the United Nations World Data Forum, held in Hangshou from 24 to 27 April: