The Fourteenth Session of the Group of Governmental Experts of the States Parties to the 1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW) concluded on Friday, 23…

Sidiki Lamine Sow, the new Permanent Representative of Mali to the United Nations Office at Geneva, today presented his credentials to Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva. Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Sow had been serving, since 2003,…

The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission will hold its sixtieth session from 27 to 29 June 2006 under the Presidency of Ambassador Tassos Kriekoukis (Greece). During the session, the Council will discuss various issues relating to the activity of the Commission…

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard from spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Office for the Coordination…

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which also heard from Dennis McNamara, United Nations Special Adviser on Internal Displacement, and spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United…

Hears Statements from Ministers and Other Dignitaries from 16 Countries The Human Rights Council this morning continued its high-level segment, hearing statements from Ministers and other dignitaries from Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Andorra, Croatia, Cuba, Estonia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia,…

Following is the statement by Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba of Mexico, the President of the first session of the Human Rights Council, to the first meeting of the Council which opened today at the Palais des Nations in Geneva: “Almost 60 years ago, with the adoption of the Universal…

Mr. President [Luis Alfonso de Alba], let me first congratulate you – or rather, let me congratulate the Council on choosing you as its first President. This choice augurs well indeed for the Council’s future work. We at UN Headquarters in New York know you well, from your time in the…

Hears Statements from Ministers and Other Dignitaries from 21 Countries The Human Rights Council this afternoon concluded the first day of its high-level segment, hearing from Ministers and other dignitaries from Sri Lanka, Luxembourg, Gabon, Serbia, France, Morocco, Brazil, Germany, the Republic…

Following is the opening statement by Jan Eliasson, President of the General Assembly, to the first session of the Human Rights Council, which he delivered today at the Palais des Nations in Geneva: “I think we all agree that today we are all part of an historic occasion, the opening of the…