The Secretary-General opened the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly this morning, warning that we are seeing a new politics of polarization at work. Amid such uncertainty and so much confusion of purpose, he said, we naturally seek a moral compass. The soul of global governance involves taking a collective stand, principled and pragmatic, against forces that would divide us. That is why the United Nations remains the indispensable global institution for the twenty-first century.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Secretary-General has appointed a panel to monitor the upcoming self-determination referenda for Southern Sudan and the Abyei Area, headed by former President of the United Republic of Tanzania Mr. Benjamin Mkapa.
This afternoon, the Secretary-General will host a meeting of the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East peace process, which brings together the United Nations, the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States. The Quartet meeting is intended to support the current direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
The Secretary-General told more than 140 Heads of State and Government this morning that there is an urgent need to achieve the Goals that world leaders had agreed to 10 years ago in time for the target date of 2015. He said that the eight Millennium Development Goals were a breakthrough, and they have already yielded real results.
The Secretary-General takes note of the decision by the Guinean authorities to postpone, due to technical reasons, the second round of the country’s presidential elections that were scheduled to take place on 19 September 2010. He calls upon the country’s authorities to quickly address the outstanding technical and logistical challenges in order to create the conditions necessary for the holding of transparent and credible elections as soon as possible.
Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefed the press today for the first time since taking up her post. She talked about her visit last week to the flood-affected areas in Pakistan. Also, a press release today, outlines the work to address urgent food security challenges in Pakistan. An estimated 10 million people there are vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition.
The Secretary-General announced today that he has appointed Michelle Bachelet, the former President of Chile, as the head of UN Women, the newly created UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. UN Women was established on 2 July by the General Assembly resolution which merged the various bodies in the UN system dealing with women and gender.
The Secretary-General has ended his visit to Rwanda and is on his way back to New York. He arrived in Kigali yesterday evening, and met with Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo. This morning, he met President Paul Kagame. He decided to visit Kigali to speak directly with the Rwandan President and other Government officials about their concern regarding the Democratic Republic of the Congo Human Rights mapping report compiled by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Today is the first official day on the job for Valarie Amos, the newly appointed Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. She began her work with a three-day mission in flood-ravaged Pakistan to see first-hand the situation on the ground and the status of the response. Ms. Amos will meet with senior Government officials, donors, UN agencies and humanitarian partners before travelling to Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Secretary-General arrived in Vienna this morning. He has been holding talks with Austrian officials, including Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger. They discussed, among other topics, the Millennium Development Goals, disarmament, the Balkans and peacekeeping. The Secretary-General also addressed a conference on fighting corruption. The event is part of the founding conference for the new International Anti-Corruption Academy, which will open soon.