As the Sixth Committee (Legal) this morning addressed the issue of criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on missions, the debate centred on impunity, language regarding scope of accountability and the need for an international convention.

In promoting women’s empowerment it was critical that the international community systematically link women to the development agenda, speakers told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as it continued its discussion on the advancement of women.

A regulatory overhaul to strengthen regional development banks, a scaling up of international aid tailored to Africa’s special needs, and debt relief were urgently needed to help buoy African economies weakened by the global financial and economic crisis, several speakers told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this afternoon, as it continued its consideration of macroeconomic policy questions.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for World Food Day, to be observed on 16 October:

Success in the global fight against trafficking in drugs and humans, as well as the associated problems of transnational organized crime and money-laundering, required interlocking national, regional and international strategies rooted in global cooperation, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today, as it wrapped up its discussion on crime prevention, criminal justice and international drug control.

The Commission on the Status of Women ‑‑ the United Nations’ principal policymaking body dedicated to gender equality and women’s advancement ‑‑ today elected by acclamation Garen Nazarian, of Armenia, as Chairperson of its fifty-fourth and fifty-fifth sessions.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, delivered by Jean-Paul Laborde, Head, Office of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, in Vienna, 14 October:

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

This is the text of remarks by the UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today to the General Assembly’s Sixth Committee (Legal) on the question of the rule of law:

New winds were blowing positively through the halls of disarmament, but notwithstanding the recent momentum in the area of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, the new weapons of mass destruction -– small arms and light weapons -– were destabilizing societies and imperilling people everywhere, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today.