| UN Calendar |
May 9
The Security Council holds a debate on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the morning and later, it receives a briefing and hold consultations on Libya.
The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries starts in Istanbul, Turkey through May 13.
The Open-ended Meeting of Governmental Experts of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects begins at UN headquarters through May 13.
The 46th session of the Committee against Torture begins in Geneva through June 3.
May 10
The Secretary-General travels to Geneva, where he will open the Third Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and launch the 2011 Global Assessment Report. The Deputy Secretary-General will also then chair the Global Platform.
The Security Council holds an open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.
Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), launches the report, "Population Dynamics in the LDCs: Challenges and Opportunities for Development and Poverty Reduction," on the sidelines of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Istanbul.
May 11
The Security Council receives a briefing and holds consultations on Somalia.
The World Health Organization (WHO) kicks off the first global Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.
May 12
The Security Council adopts a resolution on United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), to follow up on Resolution 1968 and receives a briefing on a Report on post-conflict civilian capacity. The Council also holds a debate on the Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
May 13
Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), speaks at an Organization of American States event title, Climate Change: What the Americas Can and Must Do, in Washington at 10 a.m.
The Security Council holds consultations to receive a briefing by Department of Political Affairs and a receives a report on the situation in Chad following the withdrawal of the United Nations Mission in Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT).
***** Watch live coverage of the events listed above at www.un.org/webcast
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| UN News Center - New York | 
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File Photo, Abyei, Sudan - Peacekeepers with the UN Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) are pictured during a patrol in Sudan's Abyei region earlier this year. The mission had intensified its patrols in this area in the wake of violent clashes that have killed dozens before and during Southern Sudan's referendum on self-determination. UN Photo/Tim McKulka
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Sudan: UN welcomes agreement to withdraw forces from disputed Abyei area The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan (UNMIS) has welcomed the commitment of the northern and southern sides to withdraw their forces from Abyei and to immediately deploy combined teams to the disputed area to provide security.  Participants in the Abyei Joint Technical Committee, which is facilitated by UNMIS, agreed at a meeting on May 8 to start the withdrawal of all unauthorized forces and the deployment of joint integrated units - made up of personnel from both sides - by tomorrow and to finish the process by May 17.
The two sides agreed that they will work to create a more conducive environment by de-escalating tensions and speaking to communities on the ground about the implementation of recent peace agreements aimed at ending the violence in the Abyei area. Deadly clashes have claimed dozens of lives since the start of the year, when a referendum on Abyei's status that was supposed to have been held never took place amid disagreement on voter eligibility. Southern Sudan will secede from the rest of the country in July as a result of a separate referendum held in January and both north and south claim Abyei. Read more
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UN officials saddened by death of staff in plane crash in Bolivia
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have voiced their deep sadness after the death of four UNODC staff members and two military pilots who were killed in a plane crash in Bolivia while on a flight to monitor coca production.
 Senior UN officials sent their sincere condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the UNODC staff and the Bolivian military pilots.
"Their dedication to the fight against narcotic drugs will be a lasting legacy and is an inspiration to us all," the Secretary-General said in his condolence message on May 8.
All six people on board died when the plane crashed on Thursday northeast of the Bolivian capital, La Paz. The accident occurred in the Bolivia's Plurinational state.
UNODC routinely monitors the production of narcotic crops in several parts of the world from Asia to South America in order to prepare data on narcotic crop production for national monitoring reports such as the Bolivia Coca Survey and the World Drug Report.
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Haiti: UN warns rainy season poses challenge to ongoing anti-cholera efforts
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti will continue supporting all efforts to combat the spread of cholera in the Caribbean country, cautioning that the forthcoming rainy season could pose fresh challenges because of the risk of contamination of water sources.
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File Photo - A nurse comforts a sick child at a cholera treatment center in Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, in November 2010. The center is among several established by local health authorities and international groups, including the UN World Health Organization (WHO), to separate cholera patients and combat the spread of the disease. UN Photo/Logan Abassi
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"The rainy season is coming and this is a great source of concern for us because the more water you have, the more the risk of new propagation of the epidemic," said Sylvie van den Wildenberg, spokesperson for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
"MINUSTAH is committed to keep supporting all the humanitarian partners - those in the UN family and indeed the government of Haiti - in order to respond in the most efficient manner to this new challenge," she told a news conference in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on May 5.
Ms. van den Wildenberg spoke a day after the release of a report by an independent panel set up by the UN to investigate the source of the cholera outbreak that has claimed more than 4,500 lives in Haiti since last October. The report concluded that a "confluence of circumstances," and not the fault of any group or individual, was responsible for the fast-moving outbreak.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced that he plans to convene a task force to study the report's findings "to ensure prompt and appropriate follow-up."
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Libya: Security Council resolutions must remain basis for action, says UN chief
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stressed that the resolutions adopted by the Security Council in response to the Libya crisis - which is now in its third month - must remain the basis of international action as well as any ceasefire agreement between the government and rebels.
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May 3, 2011, United Nations, New York - A view of the Security Council as members hear a briefing from Abdel-Elah Mohamed Al-Khatib (seated left), Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras
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In a message to the second meeting of the Contact Group on Libya on May 5, Mr. Ban emphasized the "paramount importance" of resolutions 1970and1973, the texts adopted in March that imposed sanctions against the Libyan authorities and authorized member states to take "all necessary measures" to protect civilians, respectively.
"As the Contact Group seeks to move the process forward, it is important that future actions continue to be based on these resolutions. Maintaining consensus will be crucial in ensuring coherence, effectiveness and success," he stated in the remarks, delivered by B. Lynn Pascoe, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs.
What started out in February as protests against the regime of Muammar Al-Qadhafi has turned into a full-fledged conflict between government forces and the opposition - one that has led to a humanitarian crisis in the North African nation and caused more than 665,000 people, many of them third-country nationals, to flee outside its borders.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina facing worst crisis in years, Security Council hears
Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing its worst crisis since fighting stopped in 1995, with no prospect of a new state government being formed, a stalled economy and a direct threat from Republika Srpska to the country's very existence, the Security Council heard today.  | |
File Photo - Valentin Inzko, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, briefs the Security Council on the situation in that country in November 2010. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras
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Valentin Inzko, the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, told a Council debate that Republika Srpska - one of two semi-autonomous entities that comprise the country - has taken "concrete actions which represent the most serious violation of the Dayton Paris Peace Agreement" since the pact was signed at the end of 1995. Last month Republika Srpska's National Assembly decided to hold a referendum in June on the validity of the powers of the High Representative and many state-level institutions, including the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. "The recent actions by Republika Srpska, if allowed to proceed, would have a major impact on the functionality and sustainability of Bosnia and Herzegovina," Mr. Inzko said, citing the "significant number" of decisions taken, laws enacted and reforms made by his office since the 1995 peace deal. Read more
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Week in Review
Secretary-General Calls Syrian President  | |
May 4, 2011, United Nations, New York - In a phone call to Syrian President Bashar el Assad, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate end to violence against peaceful demonstrators as well as an end to the wave of mass arrests. UN Photo/Mark Garten
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_______________________________ High-level Roundtable on Democracy and Gender Equality  | |
May 4, 2011, United Nations, New York - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (second from right) addresses a high-level roundtable discussion on "Democracy and Gender Equality", co-organized by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women and the UN Department for Political Affairs. At right is Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
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