The 10-year Programme of Action adopted at the close of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Development Countries gave new momentum to global efforts to improve the lot of the world’s most vulnerable, impoverished nations, Gyan Chandra Acharya, (Nepal), Chair of the Group of Least Developed Countries, said at a Headquarters press conference today.
General Assembly: Press Conference
Updating the press on the latest developments regarding the work of the sixty-fifth General Assembly, Joseph Deiss, the 192-member body’s President, today highlighted a host of upcoming topical debates and took questions on the push for Palestinian statehood, as well as on the status of the negotiations to reform and expand the Security Council.
Disaster risk reduction was crucial to protect gains made in reaching the Millennium Development Goals, especially in poor countries where capacities were low and massive losses would only perpetuate a cycle of poverty and disempowerment, General Assembly President Joseph Deiss said today at a Headquarters press conference.
The United Nations peacebuilding architecture was bolstering its ability to help post-conflict nations avoid the all-too-common fate of relapsing into violence after the departure of peacekeeping missions, Peter Wittig (Germany), outgoing Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, said today.
General Assembly President Joseph Deiss (Switzerland) expressed worries today over the escalation of violence and mayhem in Côte d’Ivoire resulting from Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to step down after losing that West African nation’s November presidential election to Alassane Ouattara.
Racism — a problem everywhere in the world — was growing due to xenophobic teachings and violence, and it was the duty of States to enforce internationally recognized standards to prevent discrimination, Githu Muigai, the United Nations top expert on contemporary forms of racism and xenophobia told correspondents today at a Headquarters press conference.
Speaking at a Headquarters press conference today, the United Nations Special Rapporteur, promoting the right to physical and mental health, said that the so called “campaign for a drug free world” could actually result in violations of the right to health, as people who used drugs might not come forward to get the care they needed for fear of being arrested, or could be denied health care if they sought help.
The United Nations should consider developing a convention on the rights of detainees, Manfred Nowak, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, told correspondents today at a Headquarters press conference.
At Headquarters today, in his first press conference since assuming the Presidency of the sixty-fifth United Nations General Assembly, Joseph Deiss, of Switzerland, said the work of the 192-member body had so far been “quite positive” and he wanted to maintain “global governance” as the theme of its efforts throughout this entire year.
The inadequate and often appalling housing conditions faced by millions of international migrant workers around the world were largely due to discriminatory practices that could only be remedied through a human rights-based approach, the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing said today at a Headquarters press conference.