The Coalition for the International Criminal Court called on the Security Council to press for the surrender and trial of President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and others wanted for serious crimes committed in Darfur, at a Headquarters press conference this morning.
In progress at UNHQ
Press Conference
The Capital Master Plan for the renovation of the New York Headquarters of the United Nations was substantially on budget and on time, Assistant Secretary-General Michael Adlerstein told correspondents at a press conference this afternoon.
The Security Council’s programme of work for June would include open debates on United Nations peacekeeping operations, protection of civilians in armed conflict, and Iraq, the last to be chaired by Turkey’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, that country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said at Headquarters today.
The Palestinian question was the “number one” priority for the League of Arab States, which was hopeful that the new United States Administration of President Barack Obama would formulate a policy capable of breaking the deadlock in the peace process, Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa said at Headquarters today.
Following the commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of peacekeeping last year, this year’s International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers placed special emphasis on the theme of “Women in Peacekeeping: the Power to Empower”, Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.
Somalia’s Transitional National Government had amassed 5,000 troops to secure the country, and was working to mobilize popular support against a militarized opposition believed to be attempting an overthrow of the newly formed administration, the country’s Foreign Minister said at Headquarters today.
Impunity in Somalia was a major factor maintaining a long-running “genocide in motion” in that Horn of Africa country, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General emphasized to correspondents at a Headquarters news conference this afternoon.
The United Nations was setting its sights on economic development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with the head of the United Nations country team telling correspondents today that humanitarian relief “is not the answer”.
Agriculture was a mainstay of development in Africa, but was also a neglected sector, Robert Vos, Director, Development Policy and Analysis Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, told correspondents today at the launch of the 2009 Africa Economic Report, adding that “regional value chains” could enhance African agricultural markets through cooperation, rather than focusing on competition between African countries.
The world’s “three F” ‑‑ food, fuel and financial ‑‑ crises had broadened and deepened the extent of hunger and malnutrition around the world, Sheila Sisulu, World Food Programme (WFP) Deputy Executive Director for Hunger Solutions, told correspondents at Headquarters today. She was joined at the press conference by Henk-Jan Brinkman, WFP’s Senior Adviser for Economic Policy, and the Programme’s Spokesperson, Bettina Luescher.