Our guest at the noon briefing will be Ad Melkert, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, who will come here once he is done briefing the Security Council about the work of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq.

“One of the things we’ve noted as we travel around the world is the importance of regional cooperation to deal with terrorism,” said Mike Smith, Executive Director, Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, because “most terrorists operate across borders”.

The Secretary-General, speaking to the press in Rome yesterday, said that he remains positive about Copenhagen. He said: “We have known for a while that we will not have a treaty in Copenhagen. This is not news.” But he added: “We can still reach a significant agreement in Copenhagen that will provide the foundation for a treaty next year.”

The last two years had been remarkable for the United Nations Mine Action Service given its destruction of more than 41 million stockpiled anti-personnel mines and the termination of their production, transfer and sale in many parts of the world, Dmitry Titov, Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations said at a Headquarters press conference today.

The United Nations Population Fund launched today at Headquarters its annual report on global population trends, which this year focuses on ways to curb the long-term harmful consequences of the planet’s changing climate by reaching out and empowering poor women, some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

The Secretary-General met today with the three commissioners he has appointed to lead the international investigation into human rights violations that occurred on 28 September 2009 in Conakry, Guinea. During the meeting, he recalled that the Commission should work independently in assessing the facts, and make recommendations on accountability measures.

With 17 days left before the opening of the Copenhagen Climate Conference, Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said today that there was no doubt in his mind that the event would be a success.

The Secretary-General wishes to congratulate President Hamid Karzai on his inauguration today as the elected President of Afghanistan for a second term.

The upcoming conference in Copenhagen on climate change should not only be attended by the most interested and concerned Heads of State, but there should also be good results, the President of the General Assembly said this evening at a Headquarters press conference after an informal Assembly meeting on the matter.

The Secretary-General welcomes the appointment of Mr. Herman van Rompuy as first President of the European Union, and Ms. Catherine Ashton as the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The Secretary-General looks forward to working closely with both Mr. van Rompuy and Ms. Ashton in strengthening cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations.