HIGHLIGHTS OF REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), chaired the briefing, which was also addressed by Spokespersons for the World Health Organization, the Office of…

Texts also Adopted on Climate Change, Genocide, Enforced Disappearances, Extreme Poverty, Missing People, Rights of Child and Occupied Syrian Golan The Human Rights Council this morning decided to extend for a period of three years the mandates of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a…

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), chaired the briefing, which was also addressed by Spokespersons for the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Food…

The Human Rights Council this afternoon extended for three years the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related…

Establishes New Mandate on Access to Safe Drinking Water The Human Rights Council at its seventh regular session adopted 36 resolutions on a wide range of issues, extended the mandates of 13 Special Procedures and established the mandate of an Independent Expert on the issue of human rights…

France Tables Speech by French President Including 8-Point Disarmament Action Plan The Conference on Disarmament this morning heard a statement from France, tabling a recent speech by President Nicolas Sarkozy in which he set out France's non-proliferation and disarmament policies, announced new…

Texts also Adopted on Protection of Human Rights while Countering Terrorism, the Staff of OHCHR, and Enhancement of International Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights The Human Rights Council this morning decided to extend for three years the mandates of its Independent Experts on the…

Texts also Adopted on Defamation of Religions, Right of Palestinian People to Self-Determination, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Right to Food The Human Rights Council this afternoon decided to extend for three years the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human…

The Human Rights Council this morning held a general debate on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related forms of intolerance and on the follow-up and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. The Council also held a general debate on technical assistance and…

George Gorgiladze, the new Permanent Representative of Georgia 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. Gorgiladze had been serving as…