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April 12
Commission on Population and Development meets in New York through April 16. The theme of the 43rd session is "Health, morbidity, mortality and development".
April 14
April 19
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues meets in New York through April 30.
April 25
World Malaria Day
April 28 |
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
May 3
2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) meets through May 28 at UN headquarters in New York.
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UN Reports |
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
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UN Secretary General urges action at Nuclear Security Summit in Washington
Building on United States President Barack Obama's Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proposed a series of high-level conferences to flesh out efforts to prevent terrorists from getting their hands on nuclear materials.
 Although the landmark International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism was adopted by the General Assembly five years ago, only 65 countries - barely a third of UN member states - have ratified it, he told the 47 world leaders gathered at the Washington summit.
"Without a verifiable and legally binding fissile material treaty, other efforts will amount to only half-measures," he said, noting that he has repeatedly urged the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament (CD) to immediately start negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
He also urged all states that have not yet ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to do so promptly. He hailed last week's US-Russian nuclear weapons reduction treaty as "a genuine milestone," and called on all parties to next month's five-yearly review conference of the 40-year-old Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to strengthen it.
While in Washington, Mr. Ban also met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other leaders including the presidents of Spain, Argentina, and Nigeria.
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Sudan: UN welcomes two-day extension of vote in national elections
The United Nations has welcomed the decision by Sudanese electoral authorities to extend the voting period in the country's historic elections until Thursday to allow them to deal with the many technical challenges that have emerged during the ballot.
 "The UN also hopes that this will enable more Sudanese voters to cast their vote, especially in areas and constituencies where the technical errors caused delays to the voting process or where voters have been unable to determine which polling center they are registered in," Martin Nesirky, a spokesperson for the Secretary-General, said.
The extension by the National Election Commission (NEC) came after some Sudanese and international observers complained of technical problems, including ballots being sent to the wrong polling stations and registers missing voters' names.
The polls - which began on April 11 - are a milestone in a country recovering from a decades-long civil war between the north and the south, in addition to the conflict in the western region of Darfur.
For the first time in 24 years, people in Sudan are electing a national president, as well as a president of the southern region, state governors and members of national and local assemblies.
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At least a million Haitian earthquake survivors receive emergency shelter
More than a million survivors of the massive earthquake that struck Haiti three months ago, or nine of out 10 of those in need, have now received emergency shelter materials, the United Nations reported today.
 The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the distribution of shelter material is on target to achieve the goal of reaching 1.3 million people by May 1.
However, OCHA noted that distribution of emergency shelter must continue beyond that date because pre-positioned stocks will be necessary to cover increased needs anticipated as a result of the approaching rains and hurricane season.
Humanitarian agencies estimate that 3.5 million survivors of the earthquake have received food assistance, 1.3 million are receiving daily water distributions and some 510,000 have benefited from hygiene kits. More than 500,000 adults and children have been vaccinated against common diseases.
On funding, OCHA reports that the revised appeal for Haiti is 51 percent funded as of today, having received $766 million of the $1.4 billion requested.
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UN to host two more rounds of climate change talks before summit in Mexico
Participants at the United Nations climate change talks in Bonn have agreed to intensify their negotiating schedule in hopes of reaching a strong outcome in Mexico later this year after world leaders were unable to agree on a binding treaty in Copenhagen last December.
 "At this meeting in Bonn, I have generally seen a strong desire to make progress," said Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), following the talks over the weekend in Germany.
He cautioned, however, that while additional "meeting time is important, it is itself not a recipe for success."
In addition to the negotiating sessions already scheduled for 2010, governments of the 175 countries that participated decided to hold two additional sessions of at least one week each to intensify the search for ways to limit carbon emissions and provide assistance for developing countries.
Dates have not yet been set, but the additional meetings will take place between June 11, when the UNFCCC Convention subsidiary bodies wrap up their session, and November 29 when the UN Climate Change Conference will begin in Cancun, Mexico.
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Week in Pictures
World Health Day Celebration in Jalalabad
April 8 - World Health Day was celebrated in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. A variety of stakeholders - provincial government, line departments and civil society representatives - vowed to make the city cleaner. Youth from the Sports Department performed karate, among other sports, to promote sports. UNAMA Photo/Shafiqullah Waak
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Candle-Lighting Ceremony in Honor of Rwandan Genocide Victims 
April 7 - Officials participate in a ceremony in honor of the victims of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda at UN headquarters in New York. From left to right: Deputy Secretary-General Asha Rose-Migiro; Eugène-Richard Gasana, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Rwanda to the United Nations; Mr. Gasana's wife, Agnès Gasana; and Steve Dick Tennyson Matenje, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi to the United Nations. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras |
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About the United Nations in Washington
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