Announcing two new arrest warrants for serious crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said this afternoon that action on the warrants was critical to help end massacres of civilians in the eastern Kivu provinces of the vast country. ?Impunity is not a legal concept,? […]
The world would commence a new era on 21 December 2012, according to the Mayan calendar, which coincided with an important date in the United Nations calendar, when preparations would begin for the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, top Guatemalan officials said today. ?2012 is a significant year for our nation and the whole […]
A new milestone for the rights of indigenous peoples ? their first ever World Conference, slated for 2014 ? was on the horizon, said leaders and activists at a Headquarters press conference today, noting that the meeting would offer a unique opportunity to create a framework for addressing the most pressing challenges facing indigenous peoples […]
Speakers Call for Improved Socio-economic Conditions for Indigenous, Steps To Help Them Adapt to Climate Change, Control of Corporate Expansion on Lands The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues this morning put its spotlight on the native peoples and cultures of Central and Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia, with civil society groups […]
Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon?s message to the Steering Group of Friends of Water on Rio+20, as delivered by Lenni Montiel, Director for Economic, Social and Development Affairs, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, in New York, 11 May: I am pleased to send greetings to the Friends of Water Group, which is now more than […]
Following is a joint statement by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser: The President of the General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser, and the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, are jointly convening a High-Level Thematic Debate on the State of the World Economy and Finance in 2012, on 17 and 18 May, to explore ways […]
Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon?s message for World Environment Day, 5 June: As the world gears up for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development ( Rio+20), World Environment Day is an opportunity to highlight the need for a paradigm shift towards a more sustainable world. This year?s theme, ?Green Economy: Does it include you??, […]
Top Official Says Legal Instrument on Traditional Knowledge Close to Completion; Many Delegates Say Organization Monopolistic, Contemporary Manifestation of Piracy An intense debate unfolded today in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, as participants in a lively dialogue with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) pressed the Geneva-based body to reform in ways that […]
As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) scrutinized the budget proposals today for 10 peacekeeping operations for the fiscal year 2012/13, several delegates argued against across-the-board cuts and warned that reductions in Haiti, Côte d?Ivoire, South Sudan and Kosovo could jeopardize the ability of the ?blue helmets? in those countries to implement their mandates. Several Latin […]
Top Envoy in Libya Urges International Community to Be ?Frank? With Itself, Interim Government in Identifying Challenges, Gaps Given the ?terrible legacy? confronting the transitional authorities in Libya, their efforts in establishing a functioning State based on the rule of law and democracy deserve praise and support, but serious problems in governance, security, human rights […]
