The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, is in Khartoum today. She met with the Sudanese Minister for Social Welfare, Amira Al-Fadil, and they discussed the situation in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states. Ms. Amos said the Government and her Office had agreed to share information and data on the humanitarian situation and a mechanism would be established to ensure continuous dialogue.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq has strongly condemned the recent bombings in different parts of the country, which have reportedly resulted in many deaths and injuries. He urges all Iraqis to remain steadfast in the face of those who are using violence in its worst forms to prevent the country from succeeding as a democratic nation.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said today that United Nations agencies, with the support of the peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, have launched a major humanitarian emergency operation in Pibor, Jonglei State. Around 50,000 people are estimated to be in need and a rapid response plan is being finalized.

The leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities met in Nicosia today. They discussed the forthcoming talks with the Secretary-General at the Greentree Estate in Long Island, which are to take place from the 22nd to 24th of this month.

The Secretary-General strongly condemns the terrorist attack in the town of Jamrud in the north-west of Pakistan that left dozens of people dead and many wounded, including children. He extends his heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and reiterates the continued solidarity of the United Nations with the people and Government of Pakistan in their continuing efforts to confront terrorism and extremism.

The voices of more than 80 per cent of the world’s population — represented at the United Nations by the “Group of 77” developing countries and China — would be heard loudly in 2012, Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci said today at a Headquarters press conference after his country took over the bloc’s chairmanship.

The Secretary-General spoke at the chairmanship handover ceremony of the Group of 77 and China this morning, when Argentina handed over to Algeria. He said Group of 77 leadership is fundamental in ensuring that concrete measures are adopted at the “Rio+20” conference in June.

The international response to the 2011 famine in Somalia had had a “tremendous impact” in reducing mortality and raising nutritional well-being, but the fragility of the situation had led to a record humanitarian appeal this year, the top United Nations relief official in the country said today.

With climate change promising to be one of the biggest factors in global investment for the foreseeable future, investors were changing the way in which they did business and catalysing new energy solutions along the way, experts said at Headquarters today.

Today is the second anniversary of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. We issued a statement last night in which the Secretary-General honoured the memory of the more than 200,000 people who perished in the earthquake, including 102 United Nations personnel. He also paid tribute to the Government and people of Haiti, who made important strides in rebuilding the country.