Posted by Rebecca Goldenberg on Oct 01, 2009 - 10:02 AM
After running around the 1950s-era United Nations Secretariat building, going through endless security checkpoints and literally bumping into heads of state, I finally found a TV carrying the scene from the UN General Assembly Hall. But I wasn’t alone. On a normal day, the Vienna Café in the bowels of Secretariat building would have been a quiet, if smokey, getaway from the buzz of the day-to-day work of the UN, with scattered diplomats from across the globe chatting over cups of coffee. A Starbucks to the world. Last Wednesday, however, dozens of the UN-accredited who were not so fortunate as to have the proper combination of badges, overlays and tickets to enter the actual General Assembly Hall had…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Sep 30, 2009 - 05:28 PM
Today, Secretary Clinton chaired a United Nations Security Council Session to adopt a strong resolution to end sexual violence against women and children in conflict-related situations. The resolution, drafted by the United States, outlines actions the UN and Member States can take to help prevent conflict-related sexual violence and end impunity. Secretary Clinton said:
"The resolution we passed today represents a step forward in our global efforts to end violence perpetrated against women and children in conflict zones, and it builds on two prior Security Council…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Sep 27, 2009 - 12:59 PM
"It is a great pleasure for me to be joining Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and all of you to exchange ideas and join forces against one of the most urgent threats facing our world: chronic hunger, and all of the consequences that it causes, some of which we saw in the short film leading into our conference today.
I wish that we had time to acknowledge every head of state and government minister here today, as well as all the representatives from foundations, non-governmental…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Sep 26, 2009 - 01:53 PM
![Girl carries niece in village Kiwanja, north of Goma, eastern Congo, Nov. 6, 2008. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0926_girls_eastern_congo_m.jpg)
Yesterday, Secretary Clinton gave opening remarks at the Combating Violence Against Girls Event hosted by the Government of the Netherlands during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Next week, Secretary Clinton will chair a Security Council session on the epidemic of sexual violence against women and girls in conflict zones, and the United States will introduce a resolution to strengthen efforts to curb these atrocities and hold all those who commit…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Sep 24, 2009 - 06:14 PM
![President Obama chairs a meeting fo the United Nations Security Council, Sept. 24, 2009. [AP Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0924_obama_unsc_m.jpg)
"[T]his very institution was founded at the dawn of the atomic age, in part because man's capacity to kill had to be contained. And although we averted a nuclear nightmare during the Cold War, we now face proliferation of a scope and complexity that demands new strategies and new approaches. Just one nuclear weapon exploded in a city -- be it New York or Moscow; Tokyo or Beijing; London or Paris -- could kill hundreds of thousands of people. And it would badly destabilize our security, our economies, and our very way of life.
Once more, the United Nations has a pivotal role to play in preventing this crisis. The historic resolution we just adopted enshrines our shared commitment to…
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