The United Nations today called for accelerated action in the next 1,000 days from governments, international organizations and civil society groups to reach the eight anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their deadline at the end of 2015. “The MDGs are the most successful global anti-poverty push in history,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said from Madrid, where later ...

The United Nations today honoured the memory of an estimated 15 million innocent victims who suffered over four centuries as a result of the transatlantic slave trade, while highlighting the plight of millions more who still endure the brutality of modern slavery. Speaking at the commemoration of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, held in the Ge ...

Marking the first ever International Day of Happiness, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on the international community to commit to an inclusive and sustainable human development that will improve the well-being of those who lack basic services needed to pursue happiness. “People around the world aspire to lead happy and fulfilling lives free from fear and want, and in harmony with nature,” Mr. Ba ...

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today issued a passionate call to countries to advance disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, as well as illegal arms, stressing that Member States should not delay on this issue. “Delay comes with a high price tag. The longer we procrastinate, the greater the risk that these weapons will be used, will proliferate or be acquired by terror ...

14 January 2013 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon again called on Israel today to withdraw new settlement plans for East Jerusalem while stressing that protests over the plans, as well as reactions to them, must remain peaceful, noting that they had been largely non-violent so far. “The Secretary-General is following with concern developments regarding the announced plans for Israeli settlement ...

20 December - Marking International Human Solidarity Day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today highlighted the benefits of inclusive cooperation, saying that strides made in reducing poverty and advancing democratic freedoms in recent years were proving that point. “We can reach our shared goals if people are able to participate in the formulation and implementation of plans, policies and programmes to shape ...

Last month, competing interests prevented agreement on a much-needed treaty that would have reduced the appalling human cost of the poorly regulated international arms trade.  Meanwhile, nuclear disarmament efforts remain stalled, despite strong and growing global popular sentiment in support of this cause. The failure of these negotiations and this month’s anniversaries of the atomic bombings at Hiroshima ...

In a message implicitly addressed to Iran for its repeated threats against Israel and which might also have been indirectly referring to Tel Aviv’s reported plans to launch a military attack on Iran, the UN chief condemned in Tehran “threats by any Member State to destroy or delegitimize another.” Taking note of the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran’s nuclear programme, ...