The General Assembly this afternoon recognized the International Day of Nowruz, a spring festival of Persian origin, and moved back the dates of the next high-level dialogue on Financing for Development, as it continued its sixty-fourth session.

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

Though Timor-Leste had made “remarkable progress” since 2006, when a dispute over discrimination among military forces sparked protests and widespread violence that drove thousands of people from their homes, the top United Nations official there warned the Security Council today that the tiny country was still fragile and faced a raft of socio-economic challenges that could prove even more daunting to tackle.

United Nations peacekeepers were performing commendably despite the complexity of mandates and the lack of key capabilities, the representative of Bangladesh told the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations today as it concluded its general debate. He said that prevailing mismatches between complex mandates and resources might be overcome through careful study and building up the required capabilities.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the gala benefit to honour the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, in New York on 23 February:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the Security Council debate on organized crime as a threat to international peace and security in New York, today, 24 February:

Following is the text of Deputy Secretary-General Asha Rose-Migiro’s remarks on the global preparations for the 2010 MDG Summit during the Regional Coordination Mechanism for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Mexico City on 17 February:

Following is the text of Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks on climate change, “From Copenhagen to Mexico”, to the meeting of the Regional Coordination Mechanism for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Mexico City on 17 February:

With the top United Nations anti-drug official urging concerted global action to “break the vicious circle between insecurity and underdevelopment” being increasingly fuelled by criminal networks, drug smugglers and human traffickers, the Security Council today called on the world body’s Member States to increase international and regional cooperation to tackle transnational organized crime.