Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks at an event showcasing China’s intangible cultural heritage, in New York on 1 February: It is a pleasure to welcome you to the United Nations. I bring you warm greetings from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He is away from Headquarters on official business, but he wanted me to [...]

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: Today the Secretary-General travelled to Gaza and visited a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) housing project and a school, where he joined girl students in their classroom. He also met with children who suffered serious injuries during the conflict. [...]

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks to the fiftieth session of the Commission for Social Development in New York, 1 February: Let me start by congratulating this Commission on holding its fiftieth session. From its early days at Lake Success, this Commission has had a proud history. For decades, Commission members have focused [...]

The West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) and the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) have signed a $2 million grant agreement to strengthen the ability of the Institute and stakeholders to attain the monetary union goal by 2015. The move is aimed at facilitating the preparatory activities for the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) among member [...]

Patients to be able to check authenticity of medicine under new Council of Europe scheme Strasbourg, 01.02.2012 – The Council of Europe and its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM) have launched “eTACT”, an IT-based traceability service which will allow patients to check the authenticity of their medicines using smartphones or [...]

Recently adopted declaration deplores “serious cases of racist violence and stigmatising anti-Roma rhetoric” in a number of member states Strasbourg, 02.02.2012 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe – representing the governments of the organisation’s 47 member states – expressed its “deep concern about the rise of anti-Gypsyism, anti-Roma rhetoric and violent [...]

The right to conscientious objection to military service should be guaranteed in all parts of Europe Strasbourg, 2/2/2012 – People should not be imprisoned when their religious or other convictions prevent them from doing military service. Instead they should be offered a genuinely civilian alternative. This is now the established European standard, respected in most [...]

The newly-agreed governance treaty was largely unnecessary to emerge from the crisis. It must be made consistent with the economic governance “six pack”, and backed by immediate measures to address the Eurozone’s short-term constraints, said Parliament in a resolution passed on Thursday. MEPs were nonetheless pleased that the new treaty includes many of the proposals [...]

Sri Lanka’s first “Tourism Roadside Signage Guidelines” launched on January 30 to boost its rapidly growing tourism industry. United States Agency for International Development (USAID) simultaneously released a manual, “Start Your Tourism Business,” designed to assist hospitality sector entrepreneurs, as part of USAID’s wider effort to bolster Sri Lanka’s private sector development. Tourism roadside signage [...]

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at a dinner hosted by the Foreign Minister of Jordan, in Amman, 31 January: It is a great honour for me, my delegation and my wife to be honoured by this great occasion where I am sitting together with such a distinguished leadership who are running this country [...]