Strongly condemning the recent burning of a copy of the Koran by the pastors of a Baptist Church in Gainesville, Florida, as an “outrageous and irresponsible act”, representatives of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Ambassadorial Group in New York today said the event spotlighted the need to bolster the United Nations and Muslim-led effort to promote worldwide interfaith and intercultural harmony.
In progress at UNHQ
Press Conference
Music, books, fashion, videos, cultural products and other parts of the “creative economy” hold enormous potential for developing countries seeking to diversify their economies, if adequately nurtured, states a United Nations report launched today at a Headquarters press conference.
While economic growth had increased in the 49 least developed countries over the last decade, it had not produced sufficient social or economic returns, owing to persistent structural challenges in the nature of growth, employment and decent work, said the Executive Director of the Employment Sector at the International Labour Organization (ILO) today at a Headquarters press briefing.
With no real movement towards forming a Government in Lebanon following the collapse nearly three months ago of Saad Hariri’s administration, United Nations envoy Michael Williams today called for an end to the political polarization in the Middle Eastern country so that both the security and development priorities of the people could be met.
The transatlantic slave trade was a tragedy of immense proportions that had inflicted untold suffering on millions of people for more than four centuries, a crime against humanity that deserved solemn — and prominent — recognition at United Nations Headquarters, “lest we forget”, said Raymond Wolfe, Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United Nations, at a press conference today in New York.
While Sierra Leone was emerging as a remarkable success story for post-conflict reconstruction, it still required sustained support in order to complete that process, especially in enhancing the role of civil society, women in particular, the head of the Peacebuilding Commission’s configuration for the West African country said today at Headquarters.
The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia has agreed on the urgent need to adopt a comprehensive approach to combating the scourge and its causes, the Permanent Representative of Turkey, Chairperson of the Group, told correspondents this afternoon.
Intensified humanitarian commitments were needed as the situation in Côte d’Ivoire and neighbouring Liberia continued to deteriorate, top United Nations officials said at a Headquarters press conference today. “The humanitarian crisis in Côte d’Ivoire is very serious and it is getting worse,” said Ndolamb Ngokwey, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the West African nation.
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next June, would give the international community a unique opportunity to build a global economic development model aimed at improving people’s lives and ensuring social equity while reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcity, the event’s Secretary-General said today.
The Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety was a “major breakthrough” in global environmental negotiations, correspondents were told today at a Headquarters press conference held after the new treaty was opened for signature.