Fighting the “Wildfire” of Hate Speech

On Friday, the Secretary-General visited the Islamic Cultural Center of New York to show his solidarity with the worldwide Muslim community, a week after the attack against two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. During his visit, he issued a global call to reaffirm the sanctity of all places of worship and the safety of all worshippers. He said hate speech was “spreading like wildfire” and underscored that social media is being exploited as a platform for bigotry and that public discourse is being coarsened. “The cancer is spreading. It is our duty to find a cure,” he stressed. The Secretary-General also signed a condolence book at the New Zealand Mission to the United Nations.

Press encounter at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York: https://bit.ly/2FlzBaM

Remarks at Mosque:https://bit.ly/2TqJ2dY

Article on medium: https://bit.ly/2HCzB9C

South-South Cooperation

On Wednesday, the Secretary-General delivered remarks at the opening of the Second High-Level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He said that South‑South cooperation can provide solutions to several challenges central to combating climate change and promoting sustainable development. The Secretary-General also visited the Memory Park to “pay tribute to all those who were victims of state-sponsored violence, and to the human rights defenders who carry the torch for our common humanity,” as he said in a tweet.

Remarks: https://bit.ly/2TUI4Mg

Statements and Messages

On World Water Day: https://bit.ly/2CxqKSN

On Cyclone Idai: https://bit.ly/2HOuMJC

On explosion at a chemical plant in China: https://bit.ly/2TTvBZb

On the International Day of Nowruz: https://bit.ly/2TVfE4H

On the capsizing of a ferry near Mosul, Iraq: https://bit.ly/2W8Z6mm

On the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: https://bit.ly/2Tj9jLf

On the impacts of the floods and earthquake in Indonesia: https://bit.ly/2HF9nTs

On flooding in Zimbabwe: https://bit.ly/2HoRbOp

Senior Appointments

Ms. Ute Klamert of Germany as Assistant Executive Director of the World Food Programme: https://bit.ly/2HJ8adJ

Ms. Denise Brown of Canada as Deputy Special Representative for the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA): https://bit.ly/2UTMPlH

Next Week

On Monday, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks at events marking the International Days for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. On Thursday, he will take part in a press briefing to launch of the World Meteorological Organization’s Statement on the State of the Global Climate 2018. On Friday, the Secretary-General will participate in a peacekeeping ministerial meeting.