Roger Meece, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, briefed the Security Council this morning on recent developments there, and he noted the continuing deterioration in the eastern Congo, as well as worrying developments in north Katanga.

Robert Serry, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, is deeply saddened and concerned about the death in Israeli detention on 23 February of Arafat Jaradat. He takes note of the preliminary findings of the autopsy conducted on Mr. Jaradat’s body, with the participation of Israeli and Palestinian experts. The United Nations expects the autopsy to be followed by an independent and transparent investigation.

The Secretary-General arrived in Vienna earlier today. One of the main reasons for his visit to Vienna is to attend the fifth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, which starts tomorrow. Today, he attended the Alliance's youth event, where he said the world needed to draw on the energy, idealism and action of young people.

After a four-day trip to Mali, a top United Nations humanitarian official told reporters today at Headquarters that, although he had been there to coordinate the humanitarian response, “development is the solution” for the people of that West African country and humanitarian assistance only helped build the foundation for that solution.

The Secretary-General has been attending the fifth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in Vienna today. In remarks at the opening, he said whenever tensions divide communities, the opportunity exists to build bridges and help people move from conflict to collaboration. It was particularly important for the Alliance to work where the risk is greatest.

Inspired by the annual World Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development — on 21 May — a Madrid-based non-governmental organization announced today that its international school award competition for 2013 would aim to teach children about the importance of artistic expression in building a harmonious world.

Before leaving Vienna for Geneva today, the Secretary-General held talks with the Foreign Minister that covered Syria, Mali and the Middle East peace process, among other topics. He also met the heads of UN agencies based in Vienna. Tomorrow, he will visit the Human Rights Council and attend a high-level panel discussion.

The Secretary-General is in Geneva, where he has just been delivering the annual Sergio Vieira de Mello lecture. In it, he said that as Sergio Vieira de Mello and the colleagues who died with him in Baghdad proved in their too-short lifetimes, the United Nations is dedicated to fulfilling its humanitarian imperative.

The Security Council would hold 15 open meetings this month — including debates on the situations in Afghanistan, Haiti and Kosovo — the Russian Federation’s top United Nations delegate said today, as he briefed the press at Headquarters on the work programme as his country assumed the Council’s rotating presidency.

Calling for a universal response to the problem of violence against women and girls, Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN-Women said today that Governments were the key to ending the “pandemic” of violence targeting females worldwide.