The Human Rights Council at a midday meeting today held a panel discussion on the full enjoyment of the human rights of people of African descent to mark the International Year for People of African Descent. Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, opening the panel…

The Human Rights Council this afternoon held a general segment discussion in which delegations that were not represented by a dignitary at the high-level segment had the opportunity to take the floor. The Council heard statements from 22 countries as well as civil society representatives on a…

The Conference on Disarmament held a plenary meeting this morning hearing addresses from Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; Aliakbar Salehi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran; Iurie Leanca, Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the…

Corinne Momal-Vanian, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by spokespersons of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's…

Eighteen Speakers Raise Issues Concerning Popular Demands for Democracy in the Middle East and North Africa and National Efforts to Promote Human Rights The Human Rights Council this morning started the second day of its high-level segment, hearing 18 dignitaries raise issues concerning popular…

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered the fifth and sixth periodic reports of Armenia on its implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. Presenting the report, Arman…

The Group of Governmental Experts of the States parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) devoted time during its first 2011 session held in the Palais des Nations, Geneva, from 21 to 25 February, to discuss preparations for the CCW Fourth Review Conference (Geneva, 14-25…

The Conference on Disarmament held a plenary meeting this afternoon in which it heard addresses from Doru Romulus Costea, State Secretary for Global Affairs of Romania, Ikuo Yamahana, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and Gazmend Turdiu, Secretary-General of the Ministry of…

The Human Rights Council this afternoon continued with its high-level segment, hearing statements from 12 dignitaries who, among other issues, spoke about the human rights situation in Libya and international reactions to the violations of human rights in that country, issues and challenges to the…

The Conference on Disarmament held a plenary meeting this morning to hearing addresses from Joseph Deiss, President of the United Nations General Assembly, and Michael Spindelegger, Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of Austria. In his remarks, Mr. Deiss said that the last few…