The resumed 2009 session of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organization considered 123 quadrennial reports submitted by groups in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, taking note of 110 and deferring 13. It also postponed consideration of one application for consultative status and addressed other items on its agenda.

As representatives of United Nations agencies and funds shed light today on their respective strategies to address indigenous peoples’ concerns, members of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and indigenous peoples’ organizations worldwide implored the United Nations to change its working methods so that indigenous peoples were the driving force behind –- and not merely the object of ‑- those efforts.

The following statement was issued Saturday, 23 May, by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The “diversity of poverty” should be recognized in efforts to meet the needs of indigenous people, whose distinctiveness should be also used as an asset to catalyse their economic development, Jean-Philippe Audinet, Director of the Policy Division at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today as delegates continued their in-depth dialogue with United Nations agencies.

The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers will be marked on 29 May at United Nations Headquarters in New York, as well as its peacekeeping missions and offices around the world, with a special focus on women peacekeepers, as the United Nations tries to move towards gender equity in its ranks.

The following statement was issued yesterday, 25 May, by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

In observance of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, a multimedia exhibit entitled "Women in Peacekeeping: The Power to Empower" will open with a formal ceremony on Friday, 29 May, at 2 p.m. in the South Gallery of the Visitors Lobby.

The Chairs of the three committees created by the Security Council to enforce its counter-terrorism measures and related sanctions stressed today that coordination between the panels, regular “stocktaking” of their working methods, and strong backing from United Nations Member States were of key importance in ensuring effective and efficient implementation of their respective mandates.

Following is the joint statement by the Government of Sri Lanka and the United Nations at the conclusion of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Sri Lanka on 23 May:

In a roll-call vote today, the resumed session of the Committee on Non-governmental Organizations rejected a proposal to recommend special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for the Democracy Coalition Project, even as it recommended that status for 10 organizations, postponed consideration of 15 applications, pending receipt of additional information and closed the file on one group.