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.

Violence against children, and ways to stem that violence, figured prominently in a discussion between Member States and United Nations officials from the field of child rights, at the start of a multi-day discussion on the promotion and protection of the rights of children convened by the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).

This is the text of a message by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, Republic of Korea, 13-15 October, delivered on his behalf by Timothy Wirth, President of the United Nations Foundation:

The Sixth Committee (Legal) met today to address the issue of the development of the rule of law at national and international levels. Although there were reports of progress in many areas, concerns of an inequality in adherence to desired standards were also expressed. The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General said the complex field of rule of law was central to achieving the vision of the United Nations of a just, secure, peaceful world.

Citing “worrying developments” that had heightened tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past month, Under-Secretary-General of Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe told the Security Council today that now, more than ever, it was vital that politics were made credible, “and those who try to undermine politics by changing facts on the ground or resorting to violence are not allowed to set the agenda”.

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks to the Extraordinary Joint Meeting of the European Parliament Committees on Foreign Affairs and Development, delivered in Brussels, 12 October: