There was no doubt that policing was the same all over the world, requiring the treatment of everybody with respect, dignity and in accordance with their human rights during every contact, top police official Ann-Marie Orler said at Headquarters today.

The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) was ready to resume full responsibility for security in the earthquake-devastated country, as non-Mission troops began withdrawing, the top United Nations official there said at a Headquarters press conference today.

This morning, a memorial ceremony was held for the 101 United Nations staff members who lost their lives in the Haiti earthquake, and the Secretary-General spoke at that ceremony.

The aim of an independent review of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was to ensure the quality of its future reports, the co-chair of the scientific institute charged with that task said today.

With the approach of the 1,000 day mark since the start of the blockade against Gaza, an illegal economy was being imposed on the territory’s people, who now depended on goods imported through illegal tunnels, Filippo Grandi, the newly appointed Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said today.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has repeatedly called for a halt to Israel’s settlement construction, has condemned its announcement that it is building 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem.

Women grass-roots activists should be given more clout in forming policies at both the local and international levels, speakers said today at a Headquarters press conference on the role of women food producers and their coping strategies in times of severe food insecurity.

The Secretary-General addressed a Panel on Violence against Women this morning and said that women’s empowerment is central to all of the Millennium Development Goals. Freedom from fear and violence is a precondition for this empowerment. He said the United Nations must have the resources it needs to pursue this goal with the urgency it deserves.

There had been no change of policy since 2007 on Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and as a consequence, reconstruction activities in the enclave had barely started, the top United Nations humanitarian official said at Headquarters today.

The Secretary-General will be travelling to Haiti this Sunday on a one-day visit to assess conditions on the ground. This will be the Secretary-General’s second visit to Haiti since the tragic earthquake of 12 January. He will meet with Haitian President [René] Préval and Prime Minister [Jean-Max] Bellerive, as well as with the leadership of MINUSTAH [the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti] and the UN country team.