Two gorgeous little girls of an Afghan family that had returned from foreign exile would have had a shining future if they were born in the developed world, an Afghan-born novelist and goodwill envoy for the United Nations refugees agency said today at a Headquarters’ press conference.

The Secretary-General opened the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro this morning. He said that Rio+20 represents not an end but a beginning. He added that progress on sustainable development since the Earth Summit 20 years ago, also held in Rio, has been too slow and that bold words and good intentions have not been enough.

Peacekeeping missions had broad mandates ranging from fighting cholera to mitigating conflict, United Nations peacekeeping force commanders said today at a Headquarters press conference, held to coincide with a briefing they gave to the Security Council on the operational challenges they were facing.

This morning in Rio de Janeiro, the Secretary-General met with representatives of civil society and then attended a side event on energy, gender and economic growth. And at that event, he noted that women still suffer terrible exclusion in too many parts of the world, with energy poverty taking an especially heavy toll on women.

Eight “Centres of Excellence” were being created around the world to help countries mitigate the risks related to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) material, notably by promoting coherent national and regional policies that allowed them to better share information and best practices, four technical experts said today at a Headquarters press briefing.

This morning, the Secretary-General met with representatives of the People's Summit in Rio de Janeiro. He said that civil society has helped to promote greater corporate social responsibility, and added that the road doesn't end in Rio, but in many ways starts there.

The Secretary-General presented his latest report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict to the Security Council, in an open meeting this morning. He said that too many people are dying, in too many places. Sometimes they are caught in the crossfire; frequently they are targeted. He detailed attacks on civilians in places ranging from Afghanistan to Somalia.

Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, today strongly denied allegations that her Government was supporting mutineers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, declaring there was nothing to gain by such an action on Kigali’s part.

The Secretary-General told the General Assembly’s thematic debate on drugs and crime today that drugs and crime threatened one of our most important goals: to ensure sustainable development around the world. We have the Secretary-General’s speech in my Office and online.

While illicit drug consumption had stabilized among developed and middle-income countries, it had risen among developing countries — especially in West Asia and West Africa — where trafficking routes were generating local demand, and an integrated, balanced response was the only way to address such threats, Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told journalists at a Headquarters press conference today.