Being gay was punishable by death in six countries, former tennis star Martina Navratilova said today — Human Rights Day — at a Headquarters press conference on the fight against homophobia through sport.
In progress at UNHQ
Press Conference
The upcoming World Urban Forum would address the question of equity in development, the head of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN‑Habitat) said at a Headquarters news conference today.
The ongoing humanitarian crisis in South Sudan needed continued global attention and support, a senior United Nations humanitarian official said today at a Headquarters news conference following her visit to the world’s youngest country.
The Security Council’s priorities for December focused on the complex situations in the Central African Republic and Syria, as well as on peace and security in Africa’s volatile Sahel region, the Permanent Representative of France, Gérard Araud, said today at a Headquarters press conference as he assumed the 15-nation body’s presidency.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had started operating a cash-for-work emergency employment scheme in the typhoon-hit Philippines to bridge two phases — humanitarian relief and reconstruction, a regional head of that agency said at a Headquarters press conference today.
Speaking at a Headquarters press conference today, the Security Council President for November noted that 17 open sessions and 13 closed consultations had been held to consider 20 agenda items, including the Middle East, Iran, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the work of the sanctions committees.
Despite progress in the past year by the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s national army to end the recruitment and use of children as soldiers, armed groups in that country were still gravely violating children’s rights, a top United Nations official said at a Headquarters press conference today.
Political will and adequate resources were critical to ending violence against women and girls across the world, the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) said at Headquarters today.
Education and interfaith dialogues were as crucial as criminal justice and law enforcement mechanisms in the fight against terrorism, a top official of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate said at a Headquarters press conference today.
Food, clean water and shelter remained top priorities for relief efforts in the Philippine regions devastated by super-typhoon Haiyan, a senior United Nations humanitarian official said at a Headquarters press conference today following her recent visit to the affected areas.