UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon addresses the Human Rights Council
On Tuesday 25th Juanuary 2011, a special sitting of the UN Human Rights Council was convened to hear remarks by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. 
In a strong statement, the Secretary-General called for an end to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Read the Secretary General’s remarks here or view a video webcast at: http://tinyurl.com/64qmuss. Regional groups also had the opportunity to comment. Nigeria included in its remarks some ambiguous comments, on the one hand expressing surprise at the Secretary-General’s attention to the issues, which “have not been universally accepted”, while nonetheless “strongly supporting” the principle that no-one should face discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Watch the video of Nigeria’s statement here: http://tinyurl.com/6efpehl. The last word went to civil society. Budi Tjahjono, President of the NGO Committee on Human Rights in Geneva, concluded the special session with this statement (webcast): http://tinyurl.com/6ypcdk3