The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, located in Nepal, is organizing a regional seminar entitled “Enhancing International and Regional Cooperation to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate Illicit Brokering in Small Arms and Light Weapons in South Asia and Central Asia”, to be held in Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, on 17-18 June.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), delivered by B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, in Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation, on 15 June:

The General Assembly would welcome significant developments in New Caledonia since the 1998 signing of the Nouméa Accord by representatives of that Non-Self-Governing Territory and the Government of France, according to a draft resolution approved by the Special Committee on Decolonization today.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the “Cyberhate: Danger in Cyberspace” seminar, in New York today, 16 June:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the General Assembly HIV/AIDS Review, in New York today, 16 June:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the General Assembly tribute to the late President Bongo of Gabon, in New York today, 16 June:

The Council of Presidents of the General Assembly of the United Nations held its second Special Meeting in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on 15-17 June 2009 at the invitation of Han Seung-soo, President of the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly and current Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message on World Refugee Day, to be observed on 20 June:

Halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015 required far greater access to HIV prevention services and AIDS treatment, care and support than was currently available, General Assembly delegates stressed today, as they concluded their wide-ranging review of progress to date in fighting the pandemic.

At a meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York, which will last three days, from 17 to 19 June, countries will hold in-depth discussions for the first time since the establishment of the United Nations Open-Ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, on the implementation of the outcomes of the Consultative Process, including a review of its achievements and shortcomings in its first nine meetings.