In progress at UNHQ

Small Island Developing States Assess Sustainable Development Progress, Prospects in Third of Series of Meetings, in Grenada, 16-18 March

DEV/2789
Government officials and development experts from small island developing States are conducting a series of regional meetings to discuss how their sustainable development plans are faring in a difficult global financial environment and at a time when the impact of climate change is being more keenly felt.

Seoul Conference to Stress Critical Role of Sustainable Public Transit in Providing Economic, Social, Quality-of-Life Benefits

ENV/DEV/1114
The well-integrated system of buses, subways and trains in Seoul, capital of the Republic of Korea, will highlight the health, economic and quality-of-life benefits of a sustainable public transport system during a meeting in that city on 16‑17 March.

Informal Consultations of State Parties to United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement to Be Held at United Nations Headquarters, 16-17 March

SEA/1926
The ninth round of Informal Consultations of State Parties to the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement will be held at the United Nations on 16 and 17 March. The meeting will primarily serve as a preparatory meeting for the upcoming resumed Review Conference on the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, which will be held at the United Nations from 24 to 28 May.

Newly Elected Chairman of Disarmament Commission Encourages ‘Positive Spirit’ at Upcoming Session; Delegates Seek to Build on Momentum of Past Session

DC/3213
The United Nations Disarmament Commission, ahead of its 2010 substantive session slated for 29 March to 16 April, today elected Jean-Francis Régis Zinsou (Benin) as Chair, who urged that members “look at the future with a positive spirit”.

AS DISARMAMENT COMMISSION CONCLUDES THREE-WEEK SESSION, CHAIR SAYS DISCUSSIONS ESTABLISHED ATMOSPHERE OF ‘MUTUAL RESPECT AND UNDERSTANDING’

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Although the Disarmament Commission had not been able to agree on elements of a draft declaration of the 2010s as the fourth disarmament decade -- the Commission’s main task this year -- a good basis for next year’s deliberations had been achieved, Commission Chairman Andrzej Towpik (Poland) told delegates today at the closing of its 2009 substantive session.

New Zealand Says ‘Our Commitment to Human Rights and Our Record’ Clear, as Human Rights Committee Takes Up Country’s Fifth Periodic Report

HR/CT/720
While affirming his country’s “unique but robust constitutional structure”, which afforded opportunities for engagement with human rights protections across all Government institutions and among all citizens, the Minister of Justice of New Zealand, addressing a panel of United Nations rights experts today, nevertheless acknowledged several issues of ongoing concern, including the use of “tasers”, the private management of prisons and the disproportionate number of Maori in the country’s prisons.

‘We Must Not Fail the Billions Who Look to the International Community to Fulfil Promise of Millennium Declaration,’ Says Secretary-General in New Report

GA/10922-DEV/2790
With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling for the adoption of a global action agenda for accelerating progress towards the Goals, when world leaders meet for a United Nations summit in New York, from 20 to 22 September.