The World This Week

01.04.2016 - This week's #PhotoFriday highlights some of the most important UN news stories from around the world.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon signs a book of condoleneces. Photo: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon signs a book of condolences at the Permanent Mission of Belgium to the United Nation, on the loss of lives as a result of the 22 March terrorist attacks in Brussels.  35 people died in the attacks and 270 were injured. 

A few days later on 27 March, a seperate terror attack in Lahore, Pakistan left 70 people died and over 250 injured.

Photo: UN Photo/Milton Grant

On 24 March 2016, Radovan Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years of imprisonment by UN judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ICTY.  Karadzic was found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. This image from 1993 shows Karadzic (right), leader of the Bosnian Serbs, arriving at Headquarters to participate in the peace talks on ending the bloodshed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Remembering Slavery event at UN Headquarters, New York, US. Photo: UN Photo

On 24 March 2106 at UN headquarters in New York, there was a special event to mark the International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.  The theme was "Remember Slavery: Celebrating the Heritage and Culture of the African Diaspora and its Roots".  For over 400 years, more than 15 million men, women and children were the victims of the tragic transatlantic slave trade, one of the darkest chapters in human history.

Children play in a covered playground at the Zaatari Refugee Camp, located near Mafraq, Jordan. Photo: UN Photo

Zaatari Refugee Camp has grown to house nearly 80,000 Syrian refugees since it opened in 2012.  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the camp as part of his visit to Jordan on Sunday, 27 March.  He also met with His Majesty King Abdullah II and participated in an open discussion with Jordanian youth.

Mr. Ban seated near a portrait of former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld on the occasion. Photo: UN Photo

On 30 March, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered the 2016 Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture in Stockholm, Sweden, on the theme “Evolving threats, timeless values: the United Nations in a changing global landscape”. The event took place at the Stockholm City Hall and was jointly hosted by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and Uppsala University.

View of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. Photo: Lei Han 

From 1 April 2016, China assumes the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of April.