Over the weekend, the Secretary-General will attend the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohma, Japan, where he will give one of the opening keynote speeches, participate in sessions on post-2015 development agenda issues and take part in a high-level event on “Building Climate and Disaster Resilience for African Development”.

The Secretary-General said the Arms Trade Treaty, which opened for signature today, will make it harder for weapons to be diverted into the illicit market — reaching warlords, pirates, terrorists and criminals — or to be used to commit grave human rights abuses or international humanitarian law violations.

With only three Member States having opposed the Arms Trade Treaty, “we could not have achieved a stronger Treaty while maintaining the overwhelming level of support achieved”, the President of the Final United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty said as the instrument opened for signature today.

In a report out today, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry says that the Syrian conflict has reached new levels of brutality, and that war crimes and crimes against humanity have become a daily reality. It also says allegations have been received concerning the use of chemical weapons by both parties.

The role of transparent resource management in conflict prevention, the situations in Mali and Somalia, and a debate on sexual violence in armed conflict would be among the Security Council’s top priorities in June, the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom said at Headquarters today, briefing correspondents in his capacity as the 15-member body’s President for June.

Rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence were on the rise in the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to an increase in fighting and militia uprisings, said the Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, during a Headquarters press conference today.

The Security Council held a meeting this morning to hear an update from Fatou Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, on the work of her office in examining the situation in Darfur. The Council also adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the Panel of Experts concerning non-proliferation and Iran.

The international humanitarian community faces an expanding and vastly underfunded portfolio of crises, both new and protracted, a senior United Nations humanitarian official said at a Headquarters press conference today.

The Secretary-General welcomes the announcement by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea on their agreement to hold talks. This is an encouraging development towards reducing tensions and promoting peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. The Secretary-General hopes it is the beginning of a process of trust-building between the parties.

Promoting the ethics and values of sport in youth was a strategic choice for Palestine, the President of the Palestinian Olympic Committee told reporters today at a Headquarters press conference.