Organization matters

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations University (UNU), in Tokyo today:

The Panel of External Auditors’ sixty-fourth session, chaired by Pierre Moscovici, First President of the Cour des comptes, was held from 9 to 10 December 2024 at the Headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris.

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations held its sixty-eighth session from 3 to 6 December, via hybrid format at the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in Berne, Switzerland. The session was held under the shadows of the recent tragic loss of the Chair, Mr. Imran Vanker. The rest of the members of the Committee, namely Mr. Anton Kosyanenko, Vice Chairman; Ms. Dorothy Bradley; Mr. Suresh Sharma; Ms. Jeanette Franzel; and Mr. Moses Bamuwamye, Executive Secretary, were in attendance.

In his first open briefing to the Security Council in five years, Gilles Michaud, Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security, delivered an urgent appeal for enhanced protection of UN and humanitarian personnel who face escalating risks in conflict zones.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

This week, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), in its continuing support to the Government on demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration of ex-combatants, repatriated four ex-combatants from Rwanda along with a dependent woman.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for United Nations Day, observed on 24 October:

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today tackled how — or even whether — to recalibrate the complex financial methodology used to determine how much money each Member State will contribute to the Organization’s regular and peacekeeping budgets.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) issued a statement today — jointly with the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) — noting the presidency’s decision to extend the country’s transitional period by 24 months until February 2027.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at a wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the sixty-third anniversary of the death of Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, in New York today: