In progress at UNHQ

Economic and Social Council Continues Preparations for Substantive Session, Scheduled for 28 June-23 July

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As the Economic and Social Council continued to fine tune the agenda of its 2010 session, the 54-member body’s President today announced the chairpersons for the thematic clusters examined annually by the Council, and urged delegations to conclude negotiations and present their proposals as soon as possible so that all outstanding matters could be addressed ahead of the substantive session -- set to be held from 28 June to 23 July in New York.

With Biodiversity Loss Accelerating, ‘We Are Bankrupting Our Natural Economy’, Says Secretary-General in Remarks at Event to Launch International Year

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Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s remarks at event to launch International Biodiversity Year at American Museum of Natural History, delivered by Olav Kjorven, Assistant Secretary-General and Director, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bureau for Development Policy, in New York, 10 February:

Urgency of Addressing Permanent Status Issues Central to International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace, Under Way in Malta

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“Confidence begets confidence; stability begets stability; security begets security; peace begets peace,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today in a message to the International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace, urging solid support for a resolution of the decades-old conflict.

Pivotal Role of Each Permanent Status Issue Assessed as Starting Point for Talks, at Malta Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace

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Issues of borders, settlements, refugees, Jerusalem, and water dominated discussion this afternoon in the International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace, as experts made compelling cases for why each was the pivotal permanent status issue around which renewed peace negotiations should coalesce.

Security Council Commits Itself to Improving Transition, Exit Strategies for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations

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The Security Council today committed itself to improving its strategies for ending or reconfiguring peacekeeping missions, or for their transition to other kinds of United Nations presences, following a day-long discussion involving top officials of the Organization as well as representatives of regional organizations, troop-contributing countries and the wider membership.

Social Development Commission Approves First Ever Resolution on Promoting Social Integration, as Session Continues

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As it continued its forty-eighth session, the Commission on Social Development this afternoon approved its first ever resolution on promoting social integration in order to eradicate poverty, promote full and productive employment and achieve stable, safe, peaceful harmonious and just societies for all ‑‑ goals set forth in the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and its Programme of Action.

United Nations Regional Meeting on Small Arms Programme of Action to Be Held in Bangkok, Thailand, 18-19 February

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The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific located in Kathmandu, Nepal, is organizing a seminar entitled “Enhancing International and Regional Cooperation to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate Illicit Brokering in Small Arms and Light Weapons in East and South-East Asia”, in Bangkok, Thailand, on 18-19 February.