In progress at UNHQ

Press Conference


In response to the announcement that leaders of the Major Economies Forum had agreed to hold rising temperatures to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) today reaffirmed its call for short- and medium-term targets that would limit increases to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The problems in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo had no single solution, but required a combination of efforts to deal with protection of civilians and integration into the national army of armed groups, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative said today at a Headquarters press conference.
With its porous borders and slack security making West Africa an easy target for criminal networks smuggling cocaine, guns, cigarettes and other illegal goods, the head of the United Nations anti-crime agency announced today a joint initiative that would integrate the expertise of regional actors with the global reach of INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization) to tackle the threats posed by organized crime in the subregion.
Pledging that the Security Council would carry out its work in as transparent a manner as possible during Uganda’s presidency, Ruhakana Rugunda, that country’s Permanent Representative, today highlighted the 15-nation body’s busy agenda for July, which would include open debates on Somalia and the Middle East, as well as a ministerial-level meeting on post-conflict peacebuilding.
Ousted Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya declared today that he will return to his country on Thursday and he did not fear for his life, because “the blood of Jesus Christ”, his convictions and conduct during his entire life, as well as the Honduran masses who had taken to the streets, would protect him.
The outcome of the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development in its third day at United Nations Headquarters provided a means for continued discussion, but in no way measured up to the extreme gravity of the situation facing developing countries, representatives of civil society groups told correspondents today, also at Headquarters.
General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann said that the global conversation begun this week achieved what many believed to be unachievable, at a Headquarters press conference to announce the adoption of an outcome document meant to spark a redesign of the world’s financial and economic architecture.
General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann today strongly condemned the attempted coup against the democratically elected Government of President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras, calling it a serious threat to democratic rule there, according to a statement delivered late today at a Headquarters press conference.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) considered the absence at the highest levels of the developed world at the United Nations Conference on the World Financial Crisis and its Impact on Development to be a form of disrespect, the Prime Minister of Belize and current chairman of CARICOM, Dean Barrow, said today at a Headquarters press conference.