Solidarity — in particular between generations — was a critical element of global economic and social welfare, said participants at a Headquarters press conference today.

The United Nations mission in Côte d’Ivoire, UNOCI, is calling on all parties to show restraint and to remain calm. It reiterates that violence is not the way to resolve the political stalemate. It also says that parties should refrain from acts that could jeopardize the numerous efforts being made to allow the will of the Ivorian people, as expressed on 28 November, to prevail.

Amid increased drug use and savvier efforts by narco-traffickers who continued to evade detection in West Africa, a multi-agency regional programme, launched today, aimed to stemming new drug and crime trends in a comprehensive, integrated manner, Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told journalists today at a Headquarters press conference.

In a world where demographics, economic needs and the effects of climate change were set to spur rising numbers of migrants, Governments and intergovernmental organizations needed to invest adequate financial and human resources to ensure that societies — and migrants themselves — reaped migration’s full potential, Michele Klein-Solomon, Observer for the International Organization for Migration to the United Nations, said today.

In the two weeks since Somalia’s new Transitional Government began taking shape, a new constitution was being written, discussions were under way on preserving fledgling institutions and unprecedented steps had been taken by top brass to examine military logistics and visit the front lines in a push to capture and hold new territories, a top Somali official said at a Headquarters press conference.

During its two years on the Security Council, Austria had chaired three key subsidiary bodies, established an unprecedented ombudsman office for those wishing to be taken off the Consolidated List of individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaida and the Taliban, and perhaps most importantly, overseen the Council’s adoption of resolution 1894 (2009) on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Susana Malcorra today outlined key developments and challenges facing the Department of Field Support — including the implementation of a standardized global field support strategy and continued work on electoral processes in several nations.

The Secretary-General has made clear that any attack on UN forces in Cote d’Ivoire will be an attack on the international community and those responsible will be held accountable. Any actions obstructing UN operations are similarly unacceptable. The UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) will fulfil its mandate, documenting any human rights violations or attacks on UN peacekeepers.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says that some 55,000 Southern Sudanese who had been living in the northern part of the country have returned home ahead of the January referenda. But the new arrivals are straining a fragile humanitarian situation in South Sudan.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, briefed the Security Council today on developments in that country. He said that all sides, including the Taliban, realize that there is no military solution, and he described United Nations support for reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan.