On the first day of its 2009 resumed session, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations recommended consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for nine non-governmental organizations and postponed consideration of 29 applications pending receipt of more information.

Convinced of the urgent need for a “bold, determined and innovative response” to the serious parallel crises affecting the world today, the Commission on Sustainable Development concluded its seventeenth session this evening, adopting a set of policy options to speed up agricultural development, along with practical measures to address drought, desertification, land use, rural development and lasting development in Africa.

In an agreement that signals a significant convergence between developing and developed countries on key issues, countries agreed on a wide range of policy options and measures at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development to address the food and climate crises in a manner that improves the wealth and well-being of people while protecting the environment. The Commission reached its agreement on Friday evening, as it concluded its seventeenth session.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People today expressed its utmost concern about “illegal and provocative Israeli policies” and measures in Occupied East Jerusalem, including destruction of Palestinian homes and imposition of restrictions on movement, and reiterated that Israel must refrain from any activities that changed the legal, demographic and cultural character, and status of the area, “the capital of a future Palestinian State”.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of former United States President William J. Clinton as the United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti.

The 2009 resumed session of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended a reclassification of status with the Economic and Social Council for one organization and postponed its consideration of 24 applications pending receipt of additional information.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the I-8 (innovative eight) meeting on innovative financing for development, in Geneva today:

Following is the statement delivered today by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki‑moon to the World Health Assembly, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva today, 19 May:

Hip-hop pioneer and renowned celebrity Russell Simmons will be confirmed as Goodwill Ambassador for the Permanent Memorial at the United Nations to honour the victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade at a Headquarters ceremony at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 20 May. The hour-long ceremony will double as the official launch of the Trust Fund for the Permanent Memorial to one of the most profoundly tragic periods in the history of humankind.

The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples continued its eighth annual session today, with indigenous speakers decrying Governments’ near-total disregard for their rights in the development of roads, waterways and extractive projects; negotiation of free trade agreements; and drafting of national legislation that impacted their lives.