United Nations officials hailed on Tuesday the progress made in reducing damage to the ozone layer and the vital role played by one of the most successful environmental treaties in history in phasing out ozone-depleting substances.
UN Member States have reaffirmed their commitment to take bold measures to reduce the avoidable burden of non-communicable diseases. These ailments, including heart disease and stroke, cancer, diabetes and lung disease kill 38 million people every year, many of them before they reach the age of 70.
The G77 plus China extraordinary summit which took place in Bolivia over the weekend approved two statements in support of Argentina's position in the 'Malvinas Islands question' and a second referred to the current conflict with holdout hedge funds, a long running litigation that has reached the US Supreme Court. Argentine president Cristina Fernández attended the Santa Cruz de la Sierra event.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon got an unusual treat for his 70th birthday when the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, presented him with a cake made with coca leaves. The UN chief was in Santa Cruz, Bolivia for a meeting this weekend of the G77 group of countries to discuss measures for reducing poverty.
At least eleven heads of state and government have confirmed their attendance at the opening ceremony of the World Cup, next Thursday (12th), in São Paulo, and a total of 20 leaders will be watching World Cup matches.
Barbados, a small Caribbean island at the cutting edge of the fight against climate change, will be hosting this year's World Environment Day, leading United Nations-wide efforts to draw attention to the plight of the world's small islands potentially in peril of being lost to sea-level rise.
Hailing the “long and proud” history of United Nations peacekeeping – with over one million “blue helmets” having served in more than 70 operations on four continents since 1948 – Secretary General Ban Ki-moon led the Organization on Thursday in honoring those men and women who lost their lives in the past year, while looking to the future, envisioning a modern, global force that can effectively tackle emerging peace and security challenges.
On International Mother Earth Day, the United Nations is urging greater efforts to promote sustainable development and use of renewable energy sources, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealing for worldwide changes in attitude and practice to curb the negative impact of human activity on the planet.
Crimea means more to Russia than the Falklands mean to Britain, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday after holding last-ditch talks on the region with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry.
President Juan Manuel Santos was grateful and ‘accepted with prudence’ his Uruguayan peer Jose Mujica offer to host a peace-talks process in Montevideo with the other big guerrilla movement in Colombia, the ELN, National Liberation Army