14 May 2013: Following extensive informal consultations among members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the WTO General Council has approved the appointment of Ambassador Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo (Brazil) as the next Director-General of the WTO. Azevêdo will take office on 1 September 2013.
6 May 2013: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has welcomed the entry into force of a new human rights mechanism that will permit individuals to seek justice in relation to economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR).
6 May 2013: The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Chinese actress, Li Bingbing, have recently undertaken activities to address wildlife crime and highlight the gravity of its impacts.
6 May 2013: The co-facilitators of the upcoming UN General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Meeting on "the Realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities"(HLMDD) have called on Member States to hold national consultations on the issue, if they have not yet done so, and to submit stakeholders' contributions to the co-facilitators as they prepare the zero draft of the Meeting's outcome document.
9 April 2013: The Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention) has reported that the Government of Honduras has designated two new coastal wetlands as Ramsar sites, bringing the total number of Wetlands of International Importance for this country to eight.
14 March 2013: The UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) has responded to the withdrawal of the National Coordinating Body of Indigenous Peoples in Panama (COONAPIP) from the National REDD+ Programme.
7 March 2013: The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) has announced that representatives of UN agencies, funds and programmes have agreed to the UN Plan of Action on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) for Resilience. The Plan will accelerate the integration of DRR into all UN country-level operations.
27 February 2013: The leaders of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) issued a joint statement on 26 February 2013, regarding the need for greater coordination between the main international financial institutions (IFIs) and the UN, if the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are to be achieved by 2015.
26 February 2013: The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has announced that La Selle, in Haiti, has been officially declared as Haiti's first biosphere reserve.
20 February 2013: The UN General Assembly launched the International Year of Quinoa with a High-Level Panel discussion during its plenary at UN Headquarters in New York. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Bolivian President Evo Morales and First Lady of Peru Nadine Heredia participated in the launch, which will be celebrated under the theme "A future sown thousands of years ago."
| Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) |
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| Conference Reporting Services (CRS) |
