Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the Summiteers’ Summit to Save the Himalayas, which will be held in Copenhagen, 11 December

The Secretary-General has decided to appoint Major General Alberto Asarta Cuevas of Spain as Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its eighth session from 2 to 4 December 2009. The session, which was held at the United Nations Office at Geneva, was presided over by the Chairman, David M. Walker, with all the members of the IAAC, namely, Vadim V. Dubinkin, Vijayendra N. Kaul (Vice-Chairman), John F.S. Muwanga and Adrian P. Strachan, in attendance.

Acting on the recommendations of its Fourth Committee, the General Assembly this afternoon adopted 25 draft resolutions and three draft decisions covering decolonization, outer space, atomic radiation, information and public outreach, the University for Peace, assistance in mine action, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and Israeli practices in the occupied Arab territories.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for International Migrants Day, to be observed on 18 December:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation, to be observed on 19 December:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for International Human Solidarity Day, to be observed on 20 December:

The Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 751 (1992) concerning Somalia received a letter dated 8 December 2009 from the Coordinator of the Monitoring Group on Somalia informing the Committee that a number of threats and warnings directed at the members of the Monitoring Group (based in Nairobi, Kenya) were made by unknown sources.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks on the second anniversary of the bombing of the United Nations premises in Algiers, in New York today, 11 December:

Recognizing the devastating impact of conflicts fuelledby the illicit diamond trade and the gross human rights violations that have been perpetrated in such conflicts, the General Assembly today adopted a consensus resolution reaffirming its strong support for the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which imposes strict requirements on rough diamond shipments to certify them as “conflict free”.