VIENNA/NEW YORK, 12 August (UN Information Service) – The International Year of Youth is being launched today in the General Assembly Hall with an eclectic event of speeches, musical performances, videos and poetry. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be on hand with welcoming words to kick off the Year, which runs from 12 August 2010 to 11 August 2011 under the theme Dialogue and Mutual Understanding.

The Year aims to promote the ideals of peace, respect for human rights and solidarity across generations, cultures, religions and civilizations.

In a message issued on the occasion, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that “in a world in which different peoples and traditions are coming into closer, more frequent contact than ever before, it is crucial that young people learn how to listen intently, empathize with others, acknowledge divergent opinions, and be able to resolve conflicts.”

Message on International Youth Day, 12 August 2010

Vienna, 12 August (UN Information Service) - This year's commemoration of International Youth Day also marks the launch of the International Year of Youth, under the theme "Dialogue and Mutual Understanding".

Today's challenging social and economic environment warrant a special focus on youth. Eighty-seven per cent of people aged 15 to 24 live in developing countries. The global economic crisis has had a disproportionate impact on young people; they have lost jobs, struggled to find even low-wage employment and seen access to education curtailed. As economies slowly begin to stabilize, the needs of young people should be paramount.

9 August 2010 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today unveiled a new panel on global sustainability that is tasked with finding ways to lift people out of poverty while tackling climate change and ensuring that economic development is environmentally friendly.

“I have asked the Panel to think big,” the Secretary-General told reporters in New York today. “The time for narrow agendas and narrow thinking is over.”

5 August 2010 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon honoured the victims of the Nagasaki atomic bombing today, noting that his visit to the Japanese city has strengthened his conviction that nuclear weapons must be outlawed.

“The only way to ensure that such weapons will never again be used is to eliminate them all,” he said, as he laid a wreath at Nagasaki’s hypocentre monument.

When Hiroshima was attacked on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki three days later, more than 200,000 people died of nuclear radiation, shock waves from the blasts and thermal radiation.

More than 400,000 more people have died – and are continuing to die – since the end of the Second World War from the impacts of the bombs.

VIENNA, 13 July (UN Information Service) - HIV represents a significant challenge for the 30 million people worldwide who spend time in detention each year. While it is known that prevalence rates of HIV, TB and Hepatitis C and B infections are significantly higher among prison populations than within the community, the extent of the problem is not well documented and therefore national services are not always aligned to the needs of prisoners and prison staff. In response to this, UNODC is launching the "Toolkit for HIV Situation and Needs Assessment in Prisons" at AIDS 2010 to support and guide Governments in conducting situational and needs assessments for the design and implementation of effective HIV intervention programmes.