The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its fifty-second session from 8-11 December.  Due to the ongoing challenges associated with the pandemic, the meetings were held virtually.  The session was presided over by the Chair, Janet St. Laurent.  All the other members of the Committee, namely Richard Quartei Quartey (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Bradley, Anton Kosyanenko and Agus Pramono were in attendance.

The global security environment has entered a phase of heightened and extended volatility, with increased threats of civil unrest and a steady rise in instability across the globe, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says in his report on the “Safety and Security of Humanitarian Personnel and Protection of United Nations Personnel”, released today.

The General Assembly today concluded its high-level meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, with several Member States remembering how the Organization’s peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts lifted them out of conflict and put them back on the path to a better future.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks, as delivered, at the informal meeting of the General Assembly Observance Ceremony in Commemoration of United Nations Day, today:

Honduras deposited the fiftieth instrument of ratification to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, resulting in it being entered into force in January 2021.  The Secretary-General said the Treaty is a commitment towards the elimination of nuclear weapons, which is the Organization’s highest disarmament priority.

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

The World Meteorological Organization launched today FOCUS-Africa, an $8.2 million initiative funded by the European Commission to increase resilience and adaptation in Southern Africa over the next four years.  It will deliver tailored services in agriculture and food security, water, energy and infrastructure.

In a high-level meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, world leaders in the General Assembly gathered in a virtual format today to adopt a declaration honouring the multilateral framework put in place by its founders in 1945 and pledging to better live out the promise to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the General Assembly meeting marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, in New York today:

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its fifty-first session from 22 to 24 July 2020.  Due to ongoing challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the meetings were held virtually.  The session was presided over by the Chair, Janet St. Laurent.  All the other members of the Committee — namely Richard Quartei Quartey (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Bradley, Anton Kosyanenko and Agus Pramono — were in attendance.