While indigenous people continued to suffer in the face of massive development projects that stripped their lands of precious traditional resources and displaced their communities en masse, “we are at the dawn of a new sunrise”, Carlos Mamani, Chairperson the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, said today at a Headquarters press conference.

The Secretary-General has appointed Atul Khare of India as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. Mr. Khare replaces Edmond Mulet of Guatemala, who was appointed on 1 April as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti for one year. Mr. Khare most recently served as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Timor-Leste.

The key goal of the upcoming Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was “to complete negotiations on defining individual responsibility for the crime of aggression”, William Pace, Convenor of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, said today at a Headquarters press conference ahead of the Review slated for 31 May to 11 June in Kampala, Uganda.

The Secretary-General opened the Review Conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty this morning, saying that the world’s people expect action to protect them from the destructive power of nuclear weapons and to build a safer, more secure world.

The Secretary-General spoke this morning to Mayors for Peace, which brings together some 4,000 mayors and city officials around the world, including the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Secretary-General said that the United Nations should be the new “ground zero” for nuclear disarmament, adding that he will carry that message with him when he visits Hiroshima in August.

The President of the United Nations Security Council for May, Lebanon’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Nawaf Salam, today outlined a programme of work for the month, which will include debates, consultations and briefings on a broad spectrum of issues, and will also include at least one Council mission.

The Security Council will discuss Nepal this afternoon, with the head of the United Nations Mission there briefing. In his report to the Council, the Secretary-General highlights that no substantive progress has been made in the peace process since his January report and, should the Government request an extension of the Mission’s mandate, which expires 15 May, he recommends that the Council respond positively.

Enormous inequalities of consumption and a wasteful materials cycle were among the greatest challenges in achieving sustainable development, the Chairman of the Commission on Sustainable Development said this morning.

At an event earlier today marking the end of the Second World War, the Secretary-General said it was fitting that we are commemorating the war’s end at a moment when nations are gathered at the United Nations to advance the cause of peace, by working towards a vision for a nuclear-weapon-free world.

The comparatively quick and strong recovery of the Asia-Pacific region from the world economic crisis had provided an opportunity to foster a more equitable, greener, more interconnected and more stable economy in the region, a United Nations development official said today.