The following statement was issued by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, observed on 24 April:

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations held its fifty-eighth session from 19 to 21 April at the United Nations Office at Geneva.

After three weeks of discussion, the Disarmament Commission concluded its 2022 substantive session today — the first since 2018 — with the approval by consensus of its draft report to the General Assembly as well as the reports of its subsidiary bodies.

With more than half the world’s people living in cities and the fastest population growth projected to take place in urban settings, sustainable development will hinge on how countries manage urbanization, the Economic and Social Council President told delegates today, as he opened the special meeting on the New Urban Agenda amid calls for tackling the deep inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for International Mother Earth Day, observed on 22 April:

Over 1 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have received one or more doses of the world’s first malaria vaccine thanks to a pilot programme coordinated by the World Health Organization.  The agency estimates that, if widely deployed, the vaccine could save the lives of an additional 40,000 to 80,000 children annually.

As senior officials from Serbia and Kosovo asserted discordant opinions regarding where the blame for regional insecurity should lie, the United Nations top official in Pristina, along with Security Council members, urged restraint amidst recent violence and called for continued dialogue, even as some questioned whether the Organization’s continued presence in Kosovo was warranted.

The participation of young people is vital in order to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, young delegates and high-level Government officials alike told the Economic and Social Council today as it concluded its eleventh annual Youth Forum.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the 2022 Economic and Social Council Youth Forum — “Youth2030:  Achieving the SDGs With and For Youth”, held in New York and virtually today: