The largest youth population ever seen faces tremendous challenges and complex difficulties, the Secretary-General’s first Envoy on Youth said at Headquarters today.

Christopher Ross, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, is in Rabat, Morocco, today. It is the first leg of his trip to North Africa, aimed at preparing for the next phase in the negotiating process and a possible resumption of direct talks to achieve a mutually acceptable political solution.

Martin Kobler, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, briefed the Security Council this morning in an open meeting, saying that Iraqis face a complex set of interrelated problems, among them the very real potential for a spill-over of violence from Syria.

Defecating in the open is a fact of life for 1.1 billion people on the planet, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said at Headquarters today.

Universal water security should be one of the post-2015 international development targets, experts said at a Headquarters press conference held today in observance of World Water Day.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo spotlighted important political developments in a briefing to the Security Council today, saying that the high-level political dialogue facilitated by the European Union marks an essential new chapter in the collective effort to overcome the legacy of conflict.

Owing to security incidents yesterday and today near the hotel in Damascus housing UN staff, the Security Management Team has decided to temporarily reduce the presence of international staff in Syria. Most Damascus-based staff from the Joint Special Representative’s office will be relocated to Beirut and Cairo.

With only four days left to conclude a strong, robust instrument, the President of the Final United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty should not succumb to pressure from major weapons exporters seeking to weaken its provisions, civil society representatives said at a Headquarters press conference today.

At a Headquarters press conference today, Members of national parliaments from around the world called for delegations to the arms trade treaty conference to negotiate a strong treaty, amid concerns that a new draft text to be presented Wednesday would be weaker and “lack teeth” in monitoring and compliance.

Despite a recent “illegal” status referendum to the contrary, the Malvinas (Falkland Islands) — which had long been illegally colonized and militarized by the United Kingdom — rightfully belonged to Argentina, the country’s Foreign Minister said at a Headquarters press conference today.