The Secretary-General, flanked by UN Goodwill Ambassadors, rang the Peace Bell today in a ceremony held just before the start of the general debate. Noting that the theme of this year’s observance is “Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future”, he said armed conflicts attack the pillars of sustainable development.

The United Nations needed to regain relevance to rise to the twenty-first century’s new challenges, including the recent food and financial crises, the Senior Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council told reporters today at Headquarters, as he announced a special ministerial meeting on sustainable development — “Building the Future We Want” — to be held here on 24 September.

The Secretary-General addressed dozens of world leaders at the General Assembly’s high-level meeting this morning on the rule of law. He asked leaders to uphold the highest standards of the rule of law in their decision-making at all times, and urged States to sign on to today’s declaration, on what he said is a truly historic occasion.

The Secretary-General participated today in a high-level meeting on the Sahel, on the margins of the general debate of the General Assembly. He said that any proposed military solution to the security crisis in northern Mali should be considered extremely carefully, and that this could have significant humanitarian consequences, including further displacement and restrictions on humanitarian access.

The Secretary-General today congratulates the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan for signing accords on security, the common border and economic relations. He urges their implementation, and calls on both Governments to find solutions to the future of the disputed and claimed areas and the final status of Abyei.

The Secretary-General, at a meeting this morning on countering nuclear terrorism, said the prospect of terrorists acquiring nuclear materials is one of the most unnerving threats imaginable. We must use all tools, he said, to contain this nuclear genie and not allow these arms to proliferate to non-State actors.

Meeting today with the Syrian Foreign Affairs Minister, the Secretary-General raised in the strongest terms the killings, massive destruction, human rights abuses and aerial and artillery attacks by the Government. They discussed the growing humanitarian crisis and its alarming spillover to neighbouring States.

New York City Mayor and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg announced at Headquarters today a new investment in an innovative maternal health programme in the United Republic of Tanzania, saying it would impact at least 50,000 women and their children over the next three years.

Women, peace and security, the rule of law, and the Middle East would be discussed in open debates this month at the Security Council, the Permanent Representative of Guatemala said this afternoon as he introduced the agenda for his October presidency of that body.

The Secretary-General is appalled and deeply saddened by the latest attack on peacekeepers in Darfur, which occurred during the evening of 2 October when unidentified armed assailants ambushed a UNAMID patrol in El Geneina, West Darfur. Four Nigerian peacekeepers were killed and eight were wounded.