The world’s failure to control and eradicate tuberculosis -- a disease that has been around for more than 4,000 years -- was a human disgrace, Marcos Espinal, Executive Secretary of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) “Stop TB Partnership”, said at Headquarters today.

Over half of the world’s 6.9 billion people now live in urban areas, with burgeoning small cities absorbing much of the growth of the next years, particularly in Asia and Africa, a United Nations demographic official said this morning.

The Secretary-General reconvened his Group of Friends on Myanmar today to review developments ahead of this year’s elections -- the first in two decades. He said that the Group stressed the need for elections to be inclusive, participatory and transparent, in order to advance the prospects of stability, democracy and development for all the people of Myanmar.

Correspondents were briefed today at a Headquarters press conference on a series of week-long events at the United Nations -- including an exhibit launch, a documentary screening and a student video conference -- in commemoration of the third annual International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Alain Le Roy, and Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, Susana Malcorra, briefed correspondents at Headquarters today on the United Nations effort in Haiti, ongoing reports of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers, and the recent support expressed by Member States for their new strategy aimed at keeping pace with the evolutionary changes shaping most all aspects of their mandate.

The United Nations was on track to support the June presidential elections to be held in Guinea, but the proof of that support lay in what was done to help overcome the country’s humanitarian, reconstruction and development needs after the polls, Anthony Ohemeng-Boamah, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the West African nation, said today.

Presenting highlights from their recent evaluations of the human rights records of Mexico, Argentina, Uzbekistan and New Zealand, members of the Human Rights Committee today called it a matter of “serious concern” that Belarus had apparently executed two men, despite a request from the expert body that their death sentences be postponed pending its review of their cases.

The Secretary-General has issued this statement: “I welcome the conclusion of negotiations between the Russian Federation and the United States of America on a successor agreement to the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. It is an important milestone for the international efforts to advance nuclear disarmament and to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. I congratulate President Medvedev and President Obama on this accomplishment and commend their leadership."

The international Donors’ Conference, “Towards a New Future in Haiti”, is taking place at United Nations Headquarters in New York this Wednesday. This Conference will focus on pledges of assistance for the country’s effective long-term recovery and reconstruction.

Ahead of Wednesday’s international donors’ conference at United Nations Headquarters, two senior officials closely linked with leading international recovery efforts for the country said today that they counted on the generosity of donors to mark a turning point in the Haitian people’s dream that one day their homeland would no longer need international assistance.