Despite commitments made 20 years ago at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, a lack of action by several organizations and Governments highlighted a strong need for the upcoming “Rio + 20” Conference to remobilize stakeholders and build upon the economic, social and environmental pillars, said the Executive Director of Vitae Civilis of Brazil.

In a statement this morning on Darfur, the Secretary-General notes with concern recent reports of military build-up and of clashes there. He is particularly concerned for the safety and welfare of civilians following reports of injuries and displacement, and urges all parties to respect the declared cessation of hostilities and return to the negotiating table in Doha as soon as possible.

Michael Adlerstein, Executive Director of the Capital Master Plan, provided an update today on the work of his office as it entered the construction phase of the Secretariat and Conference buildings. At a Headquarters press conference, he outlined current and upcoming changes for both pedestrians and vehicles in accessing the Secretariat campus, and stressed that safety and health were paramount in the work of his Office.

The first Preparatory Committee in the run-up to the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as “Rio + 20”, had decided at its conclusion last night to hold intersessional consultations, since the eight days originally allocated for preparatory meetings would not be enough, Committee Co-Chair John Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda) said at Headquarters today.

The Secretary-General arrived in Istanbul this morning for bilateral talks with Turkish leaders and to attend a major international conference on Somalia. Today, the Secretary-General is meeting with President Abdullah Gül and he will also be meeting Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu later.

Some 20 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, universal adherence to its two Optional Protocols would lead to the eradication of misuse of children as soldiers and sex workers, “if we do it together”, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said at Headquarters today.

The Secretary-General marked today the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, with UNICEF’s new Executive Director, Anthony Lake. The two Protocols — one on prostitution and child pornography, the other on children and armed conflict — have been endorsed by two thirds of all Member States so far.

Presenting the results of two recent independent, peer-reviewed studies at Headquarters today, the Pew Environment Group said that regional fisheries management organizations were failing in their mandated task of regulating fishing on the high seas, with significant loopholes and lax enforcement allowing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing to continue.

Despite predictions of a modest global recovery in 2010 and 2011 — resulting from rising production and world trade, and a tentative rebound in private consumption and business investment — United Nations economic experts warned that widespread joblessness and large public debt in some States, if not well managed, could mean mediocre economic growth in coming years.

By week’s end, States parties to the landmark 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement would likely suggest concrete ways to improve management of the world’s key shared fisheries and tackle such pressing problems as over-fishing, over-capacity and the limited ability of developing countries to monitor off-shore coastal zones, a key ocean management official said Wednesday during a Headquarters press conference.