INTERNATIONAL – At a United Nations intergovernmental forum opening in Nairobi, Kenya, today, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged participants to focus on strong collaboration, equality and inclusion in trade, finance and investment in order to better align action with agreed-upon sustainable development targets and help restore trust in the global economy.

“The successful actions we will need over the next 15 years – especially in the area of trade, investment, technology and finance – require that we tap the full potential of all actors, promote innovation and correct unsustainable trends,” Mr. Ban said at the 14th session of the UN Conference at Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which began today and continues to 22 July.

“We must work together – across sectors and industries – in broader and deeper partnerships,” he added.

The session, which has been held every four years since 1964, includes ministerial debates, high-level round tables, thematic events, a World Investment Forum, a Global Commodities Forum, a Youth Forum and a Civil Society Forum, among other events. This year's theme is “From Decisions to Actions.”

Noting that Nairobi hosted an UNCTAD session just over four decades ago, the Secretary-General said that while much has changed in 40 years, many of the challenges raised at UNCTAD IV remain on the international agenda.

For example, he highlighted that the vulnerability of developing countries to volatile commodity markets was a main focus at UNCTAD IV, and that today, with a global trade slowdown and declines in commodity prices, the issue is again a “hot button,” along with other complex questions challenging the international community.

“Vulnerability today derives not only from volatile markets, or from social instability, but also from a fragile global environment weakened by climate change,” Mr. Ban said.

The Secretary-General also noted that this year's session is the first major UN development conference since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

In particular, he highlighted that the 2030 Agenda will guide global collective action for sustainable development over the next 15 years.

“The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a blueprint for how the global economy, society and the environment should look in 2030, along with specific actions that will be required at global, regional and national levels,” the UN chief emphasized.

Noting that there are “worrying signs” that people around the world are increasingly unhappy with the state of the global economy, Mr. Ban said that high inequality, stagnant incomes, not enough jobs – especially for youth – and too little cause for optimism “stoke legitimate fears for the future for many in all regions.”

While the global trade slowdown and a lack of productive investment have sharpened the deep divides between those who have benefited from globalization and those who continue to feel left behind, the Secretary-General stressed, many actual and would-be leaders are embracing protectionism and even xenophobia, rather than working to change the economic model for the better.

The vision of the Sustainable Development Goals

“The vision set out in the SDGs – for people, planet, prosperity and peace – will not succeed if shocks and stresses in our global economic and financial system are not properly addressed. Trade must provide prosperity in ways that work for people and planet and respond to the challenges of climate change,” Mr. Ban said, adding that the regulatory frameworks governing trade, investment in agricultural production, and technology related to agricultural productivity all play a critical role.

He also said that incentive structures in financial markets, both at the level of institutions and the individual decision-maker, need to be aligned with social objectives in order to avoid large income disparities. The international community must also put a proper value on assets, such as ecosystem services, and correctly price systemic and interconnected risk, such as that posed by climate change.

“There are more than enough savings in the global economy to drive the transformation that the SDGs call for, but our investments need to become better aligned with sustainable development,” Mr. Ban said.

“My message to you today is that the SDGs represent the change we need to restore people's trust in the global economy,” he added.

In that regard, the UN chief said that UNCTAD – with its integrated approach to trade and development – has a vital role to play in implementing the interdependent, holistic sustainable development agenda.

For its part, the 14th UNCTAD conference must establish how UNCTAD will contribute to meeting the challenges of achieving the SDGs, the Secretary-General said, calling on Member States to agree in Nairobi on deeper cooperation on trade and development to bring the world closer to that vision.

“Trade, finance, technology and investment can be positive forces to end poverty. Used wisely, they can ensure that we leave no one behind,” Mr. Ban said, noting that engagement must involve Heads of State and Government; parliamentarians; leaders from business and civil society; young entrepreneurs and philanthropists.

INTERNATIONAL – The United Nations cultural agency today inscribed new sites in Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil and India, as well as architectural property spread over seven countries, on its World Heritage List.

The new sites added to the list – designated by the World Heritage Committee of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as being of special cultural or physical significance – include the transnational serial site of the Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement, along with the Antigua Naval Dockyard and Related Archaeological Sites in Antigua and Barbuda, the Pampulha Modern Ensemble in Brazil, and the Khangchendzonga National Park in India.

The sites were added during the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee, which opened on 10 July in Istanbul, Turkey, and closes today. The session was suspended yesterday due to the attempt on Friday to overthrow the Government of Turkey.

Architectural Work of Le Corbusier

The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement, is spread over Argentina, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Japan and Switzerland.

The 17 sites comprising the property were chosen from the work of Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, who was better known as Le Corbusier, and are a “testimonial to the invention of a new architectural language that made a break with the past,” UNESCO said.

The sites were built over a period of a half-century, over the course of what Le Corbusier described as “patient research.”

The Complexe du Capitole in Chandigarh in India, the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, Japan, the House of Dr. Curutchet in La Plata, Argentina, and the Unité d'habitation in Marseille, France, reflect the solutions that the Modern Movement sought to apply during the 20th century to the challenges of inventing new architectural techniques to respond to the needs of society, according to the agency.

“These masterpieces of creative genius also attest to the internationalization of architectural practice across the planet,” UNESCO said.

Antigua and Barbuda

The Antigua Naval Dockyard and Related Archaeological Sites – the first property in Antigua and Barbuda to be included on the World Heritage List – consist of a group of Georgian-style naval buildings and structures, set within a walled enclosure.

With its deep, narrow bays surrounded by highlands, the natural environment of this side of the island of Antigua offered shelter from hurricanes and was ideal for repairing ships.

UNESCO underscored that the construction of the Dockyard by the British navy would not have been possible without the labour of generations of enslaved Africans since the end of the 18th century. Its aim was to protect the interests of sugar cane planters at a time when European powers were competing for control of the Eastern Caribbean.

Brazil

The Pampulha Modern Ensemble was the centre of a visionary garden city project created in 1940 at Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais State in Brazil.

Designed around an artificial lake, the cultural and leisure centre included a casino, a ballroom, the Golf Yacht Club and the São Francisco de Assis church. The buildings were designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, in collaboration with innovative artists.

The Ensemble comprises bold forms that exploit the plastic potential of concrete, while fusing architecture, landscape design, sculpture and painting into a harmonious whole. It reflects the influence of local traditions, the Brazilian climate and natural surroundings on the principles of modern architecture, according to UNESCO.

India

Khangchendzonga National Park – located at the heart of the Himalayan range in the State of Sikkim in northern India – includes a diversity of plains, valleys, lakes, glaciers and snow-capped mountains covered with ancient forests, including the world's third-highest peak, Mount Khangchendzonga.

Mythological stories are associated with the mountain and with a great number of natural elements, such as caves, rivers and lakes, which are the object of worship by the indigenous people of Sikkim. UNESCO highlighted that the sacred meanings of these stories and practices have been integrated with Buddhist beliefs and constitute the basis for Sikkimese identity.

The World Heritage Committee has inscribed 19 properties to the World Heritage List thus far in 2016.

INTERNATIONAL – The United Nations and its partners in Haiti have expressed “deep regret” that for the fourth time in as many weeks, the country's National Assembly was unable to deliberate on the provisional governance arrangements.

In a joint press statement, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti and Head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Sandra Honoré, and the other members of the international community in Haiti represented in the “Core Group” (the Ambassadors of Brazil, Canada, France, Spain, the United States and the European Union, and the Special Representative of the Organization of American States) cited the “absence of a number of parliamentarians leading to a lack of a quorum” as the reason for the failed deliberations.

“Haiti continues to face serious long-term socio-economic and humanitarian challenges. These challenges cannot be fully addressed in an environment of institutional instability,” the Core Group said in a joint press statement, reiterating calls on parliamentarians to resume the session of the National Assembly and to “take action to end the uncertainty that prevails.”

“Reiterating the need to return to constitutional order, the 'Core Group' urges all actors to ensure the completion of the electoral process,” the statement also said.

On 14 February, the Haitian National Assembly elected Jocelerme Privert as the island nation's interim President, one week after former President Michel Martelly departed without a successor. Mr. Privert served as interim President for 120 days, and an election had been scheduled for 24 April, following an agreement – known as the 5 February Agreement – between Haitian stakeholders to preserve institutional continuity and further the electoral process.

Subsequently, on 25 April, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson issued a statement underlining the UN chief's deep concern that that the agreed-upon date for holding elections in Haiti was not met and that no alternate electoral calendar was announced.

In June, when Mr. Privert's 120-day interim period had come to an end, the Core Group called on the National Assembly to take action and reach a solution that avoids an “institutional vacuum,” and to facilitate the return to constitutional order through the holding of elections.

INTERNATIONAL – On the margins of the 27th African Union (AU) Summit taking place in Kigali, Rwanda, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today addressed a regional body and met with several African leaders, stressing the need for concerted action to revive the implementation of the peace agreement in South Sudan.

“Now is the time for decisive and collective action. The people of South Sudan need to hear the region and the world speak with one voice to end this mindless violence,” Mr. Ban said at the Extraordinary Summit of the International Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an eight-country trade bloc in Africa whose members include the Governments of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.

“I know many of you have worked hard to secure peace for the world's youngest country – and I know all of us agree that we cannot afford South Sudan slipping back into a civil war,” he added.

Noting that everyone is “appalled” by the magnitude of the violence, the indiscriminate attacks on civilians and peacekeepers, and the immense loss of lives and suffering that the crisis has inflicted on the people of South Sudan, the UN chief emphasized that the renewed fighting is “horrendous and totally unacceptable.”

“UN compounds have been caught in the crossfire, our warehouses and food stocks for hundreds of thousands of people have been brazenly stolen, and our premises have sustained significant mortar and small arms fire,” Mr. Ban said.

The Secretary-General condemned in the strongest terms the targeting of UN personnel and international personnel from non-governmental organizations; premises and assets in Juba allegedly by soldiers from the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA); and reports of sexual violence, assaults and killings of those personnel and South Sudanese civilians.

Welcoming the strong condemnation of the fighting and ceasefire violations by the AU Peace and Security Council and the IGAD Council of Ministers, the Secretary-General thanked the participants at the Extraordinary Summit for calling on the South Sudanese leaders to assume their responsibility and subject individuals who undermine the peace process to “stern measures,” including targeted sanctions.

Mr. Ban highlighted that he had spoken with the Special Envoy of the President of South Sudan, Nhial Deng Nhial, with First Vice-President Riek Machar, as well as with some leaders of the region, and had urged them to do “everything in their power” to bring about an immediate cessation of hostilities and recommit to the implementation of the peace agreement.

“I have sent a clear message that leaders must be accountable for their actions. This includes the military chain of command – the chiefs of general staff and other officials who are complicit in perpetrating the violence,” the UN chief said.

Meetings with regional leaders

Among his other meetings today, Mr. Ban talked with Hailemariam Dessalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia and IGAD Chairman. The leaders discussed regional peace and security challenges, as well as climate change, with the Secretary-General commending the leadership role of Ethiopia in the promotion of regional peace and security, and its contribution to peacekeeping.

Mr. Ban met with Hailemariam Dessalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia and Chairman of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The leaders discussed regional peace and security challenges, as well as climate change, with the Secretary-General commending the leadership role of Ethiopia in the promotion of regional peace and security, and its contribution to peacekeeping.

“The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister expressed alarm at the situation in South Sudan and the risk of further escalation, with far-reaching consequences for the country and its people, as well as for the region,” said a statement issued by Mr. Ban's office.

“They agreed on the need for an urgent and enhanced international action to avert full blown violence and further atrocities, and put back on track the implementation process of the agreement on the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan,” the statement also said.

The UN chief informed the Prime Minister about his recommendations to the Security Council in favour of an arms embargo, the imposition of targeted sanctions against individuals involved in violence and blocking the implementation of the peace agreement, and the reinforcement of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

The Secretary-General indicated that he was looking forward to the outcome of the deliberations of the IGAD and AU Heads of State and Government, emphasizing the “important role” of the African leaders.

The Secretary-General also thanked the Ethiopian Prime Minister for his country's key role and sacrifices towards stabilization efforts in Somalia, emphasizing the need to “spare no efforts” in creating the required security conditions for the successful holding of the forthcoming elections.

In addition, Mr. Ban underlined the debilitating effects of the El Niño and La Niña weather phenomena globally and in the Horn of Africa region in particular. The Prime Minister informed him of the steps taken by Ethiopia to mitigate the impact of La Niña and its commitment to the global efforts to address climate change, including through the early ratification of the Paris Agreement.

The Secretary-General also met today with Idriss Déby Itno, President of Chad and Chairperson of the AU. Commending Mr. Déby for his country's critical role in the regional efforts to combat the Boko Haram terrorist group, Mr. Ban reiterated the UN's support in that regard.

Mr. Ban also met with the High Representative of the AU for South Sudan and former President of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konaré, and the Chairperson of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission and former President of Botswana, Festus Mogae.

During that discussion, former Presidents Konare and Mogae updated the Secretary-General on their efforts for peace in South Sudan, including recent consultations in Juba with South Sudanese leaders, with the UN chief commending them for their efforts and encouraging them to remain steadfast.

Acknowledging the seriousness of the situation and the risk of relapse into conflict and that of further and widespread atrocities against the civilian population, the Secretary-General and the two former Presidents agreed on the “urgency of concerted regional and international action to address the current challenges and bring about lasting peace and security in South Sudan.” In that respect, they emphasized the role of IGAD and of African leaders.

In addition, Mr. Ban met with the President of Uganda, Yoweri Kabuta Museveni, on the situation in South Sudan.

In another meeting today, the Secretary-General discussed the situation in South Sudan with Gayle Smith, Administrator of the United States Agency for International, together with the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda Thomas Greenfield, and the United States Special Envoy for South Sudan, Donald Booth. The leaders expressed grave concern about the risk of further violence in the country, as well as the “appalling” humanitarian situation compounded by the recent fighting in Juba.

“They look forward to the outcomes of the deliberations of the IGAD and African Union leaders on the matter, hoping that these will provide additional momentum to the international efforts to address the security situation, in particular in Juba, and ensure the effective implementation of the peace agreement,” said a statement issued by Mr. Ban's office.

On Friday, Mr. Ban met with a number of African leaders on the sidelines of the AU Summit, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Algeria, Ramtane Lamamra.