The Secretary-General made a previously unannounced visit to Kabul today, following the attack on a Kabul guesthouse last week, in which five UN staff members were killed and others were injured.

Speaking to reporters at Headquarters today, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food warned that increasing dependency on commercial seed varieties monopolized by a few very powerful multi-national companies could severely impact small farmers in developing countries.

“2010 is going to be a historical year for the biodiversity family,” Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ahmed Djoghlaf, said, as he launched the logos for the International Year on Biodiversity and the tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties, to be held in Nagoya, Japan, next October.

Announcing that proceeds from a re-release of the 1960s anthem “Give Peace a Chance” will be donated to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, Heraldo Muñoz of Chile, Chairman of the Peacebuilding Commission, called for more private-sector aid to countries emerging from conflict, at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

This month’s President of the Security Council, Thomas Mayr-Harting from Austria, today briefed correspondents on November’s programme of work, which will include a debate on protection of civilians in armed conflict chaired by Austria’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The Secretary-General this morning had a working breakfast in London with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and afterwards he told reporters that they had discussed, among other things, Afghanistan, climate change, the Millennium Development Goals and Myanmar.

In Athens, the Secretary-General today warned that conditions in which many migrants move and live remain treacherous. He spelled out three major challenges facing migrants worldwide: first, on the economic front, the global recession; second, climate change; and third, human trafficking.

In the final analysis, said General Assembly President Ali Abdussalam Treki of yesterday’s 114 votes in favour of the resolution on follow-up to the report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict -- there was great support for the text.

The Secretary-General will brief the Security Council in closed consultations on Afghanistan. He will discuss the security situation and his recent trip to Kabul. This morning, Council members heard a briefing in an open meeting from Karin Landgren, the Secretary-General’s Representative for Nepal.

Calling for more attention to be paid to water management, two experts warned this afternoon that the main effects of climate change would revolve around water use.