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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the move of the Japanese parliament to approve payments for the renovation plan for United Nations Headquarters in New York and for the world body’s expanding peacekeeping operations.

With the accelerated plan for the renovation of the United Nations Headquarters complex approved by the General Assembly last week, the world body is set to embark on an ambitious five-year overhaul that will result in a sustainable, modern, safe and efficient facility, the UN official overseeing the project said today.

The General Assembly has approved a series of proposals to speed up the much-need renovation of the United Nations Headquarters complex, a move welcomed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who said the project could now be completed sooner and with less risk to staff and visitors.

Concerned about further delays to the renovation of the United Nations Headquarters complex in New York, the General Assembly’s budget committee has endorsed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s proposals to accelerate the much-needed overhaul.

A senior United Nations official tasked with overseeing the renovation of the world body’s headquarters complex in New York has stressed that accelerating the project will ensure that it is done faster, within budget and with the least amount of disruption to the Organization.

Citing the need to make up for lost time and move ahead with renovating the United Nations Headquarters complex in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has proposed a revised strategy that is “less risky, less expensive and faster” in the long run than the current seven-year, $1.9 billion plan.

Wrapping up the main part of its annual session, the United Nations General Assembly approved over $1.8 billion in funding for a comprehensive renovation of the world body's New York campus, drawing immediate praise from Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has argued that the refurbishment is essential from a health and security standpoint, and promises to save costs in the long-run.

The United Nations General Assembly should act on how to fund a proposed $1.8 billion renovation of the world body’s dilapidated New York Headquarters, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report released today.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed an experienced architectural and health-care consultant and project manager as his Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of the plan to overhaul the United Nations deteriorating New York Headquarters. Louis Frederick Reuter IV of the United States will succeed Toshiyuki Niwa of Japan, who left to join the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The United States has offered to loan the United Nations $1.2 billion to implement a plan to overhaul the UN's deteriorating New York Headquarters.