The Secretary-General spoke at an event this morning marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, and he said that Israelis and Palestinians must break out of a zero-sum mentality. Noting the vote taking place this afternoon in the General Assembly on Non-Member Observer State status, he said the question is a matter for United Nations Member States to decide.

The day when no baby would be born with HIV, anywhere in the world, was very near, Bertil Lindblad, Director, New York Office of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), told reporters today at a Headquarters press conference, as he launched the 2012 UNAIDS World AIDS Day report.

Although the urgent, short-term humanitarian needs of people displaced around Goma were under control, long-term assistance remained uncertain, Mustapha Soumaré, Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo told journalists today by videoconference from Kinshasa.

The General Assembly resolution on the question of Palestine was adopted yesterday by 138 votes in favour to 9 against, with 41 abstentions. The Secretary-General said the vote underscores the need to resume meaningful negotiations, urging the parties to renew their commitment to a negotiated peace.

As the United Nations increasingly called on regional organizations to lead peacekeeping, peacebuilding and conflict-prevention efforts, training centres in Africa were preparing local military, police and civilian personnel to perform efficiently in troubled parts of the continent, the head of one of those centres said at a Headquarters press conference today.

A deal had successfully been brokered by the United Nations between Yemen’s Government and a major insurgent group in the country to stop recruiting and using child soldiers, a top children’s rights representative for the Organization told reporters at a Headquarters news conference this afternoon.

The Secretary-General arrived in Doha today, to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Tomorrow he will address the opening of the high-level part of the Conference and then he will give a press conference with the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres.

The Security Council in December planned to intensify its focus on the Sahel, particularly the crisis in Mali, along with continued consideration of a range of situations around the world, the Permanent Representative of Morocco said as he briefed correspondents at Headquarters on the programme of work for his country’s presidency of the body.

The Secretary-General addressed the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Doha today. He told the gathered leaders and delegations that we should be under no illusion that climate change is a crisis that threatens us all — our economies, our security and our future well-being.

Briefing the Security Council on Mali, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said a first step in the multidimensional international response to the “horrendous crisis” must focus on supporting Malian authorities in conducting an inclusive national dialogue towards restoring constitutional order.