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”.

An exhibition of children's drawings from around the world will open on Tuesday, 15 December, at 6 p.m. in the South Gallery of the Visitors’ Lobby.

Concluding its sixty-fourth session today, the Second Committee approved five draft resolutions on a range of agenda items, including a text by which the General Assembly would note with deep concern that the world financial and economic crisis had severely impacted international trade, with a particular effect on developing countries, resulting in lower fiscal revenues and balance-of-payment problems.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has designated 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai as a United Nations Messenger of Peace with a special focus on the environment and climate change. She will be inducted by the Secretary-General on Tuesday, 15 December 2009, during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

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

Urging the parties in Cyprus to build on previous progress in negotiations for the reunification of the divided island by intensifying the momentum of talks, the Security Council this morning extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping force there, known as UNFICYP, until 15 June 2010.

The outgoing members of the Security Council -– Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Libya and Viet Nam –- delivered briefings today on the work of subsidiary bodies they had chaired during their two-year tenure.

Following is a transcript of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s press conference held in New York today, 14 December 2009:

Acting without a vote, the Sixth Committee (Legal) today approved a resolution to grant observer status in the work of the General Assembly for the 25‑member Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, while also deciding to request that the General Assembly consider how best the Council of Presidents of the General Assembly could contribute its unique expertise to the Organization’s work once a resolution on recommending observer status for the group was withdrawn.