Following is UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ message for Africa Industrialization Day, observed on 20 November:

A report released today by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) points to historic gains overall for the world’s children, notably in under-5 mortality rates and primary education, since the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted in 1989.  Yet many of the poorest children have yet to feel the impact.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Kanni Wignaraja of Sri Lanka as the next Assistant Secretary‑General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The Department of Global Communications Civil Society Association Committee today associated 14 civil society organizations with the United Nations Department of Global Communications.  This brings the number of civil society organizations working with the Department in the area of communications and outreach to 1,533.

Following are UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ remarks to the first session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, in New York today:

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved 15 draft resolutions today, expressing itself on the rights of children and advancement of women, as well as on the protection of refugees in Africa and the implementation of minimum accessibility standards for persons with disabilities, among other topics.

Growing foreign involvement in Libya must be stopped as the toll of civilian casualties rises and diplomats “race against time” to convene an international conference as a bridge to intra-Libyan talks, reach a peaceful solution and spare many lives, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today.

Delegates extolled the long overdue urgency of creating a nuclear‑weapon‑free zone in the Middle East today to quell chronic regional tensions and build an inclusive foundation of peace and security, as the inaugural Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction opened at Headquarters today, without the participation of Israel and the United States.

In a day of intense action, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved 12 draft resolutions, including three on the broad theme of migration flows, touching on refugees, protection of migrants and human trafficking.

More than 210,000 people in Chad have been affected by widespread flooding following heavy rains over the past few months and need food, shelter and non-food items, according to the Chadian Red Cross.  The United Nations and humanitarian partners plan to scale up the aid response, but have very limited resources.