15 May 2016

• A UN-sponsored World Humanitarian Summit will be held in Istanbul 23-24 May. It is one of several "high-level" meetings on a similar theme without an obvious result. Statements are limited to three minutes. With reference to the General Assembly's recent five-minute limit, it seems that UN officials are competing in limiting speech rather than allowing for substantive discussion first.

• The UN Dag Hammarskjold library will be conducting a forum for delegates on how to use UN documents, research UN topics, and treat General Assembly documents. These are mainly issues for which they should have been prepared before actually taking over as delegates.

• Preparations are underway to select the next president of the General Assembly's forthcoming 71st Session. It is a rotation with internal competition and external accord.