Afghanistan

The Secretary-General deeply regrets the adoption of the so-called “Regularisation bill” on 6 February.  This bill will have far-reaching legal consequences for Israel.  The Secretary-General insists on the need to avoid actions that would derail the two-State solution.

Today is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, and in his message on the occasion, the Secretary-General stressed that the practice denies women and girls their dignity, endangers their health and causes needless pain and suffering, with consequences that last a lifetime.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Toby Lanzer of the United Kingdom as his Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), where he will also serve as United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

As part of his reform agenda, the Secretary-General has approved a whistle-blower protection policy to have the United Nations function in a more open, transparent and fair manner by enhancing protection for individuals who report possible misconduct or cooperate with duly authorized audits or investigations.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Olof Skoog (Sweden):

The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations briefed the Security Council today saying that the 31 December 2016 agreement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had contributed to defusing tensions there.  However, he noted that major efforts would need to be made to ensure all parties follow and implement the agreement.

In his first time speaking before the Security Council as Secretary-General, António Guterres spoke about the importance of conflict prevention, saying that it had proved difficult to persuade decision-makers at national and international levels that prevention must be their priority.

The United Nations condemns the 10 January terrorist attacks near Afghanistan’s Parliament in Kabul, and the residence of the Provincial Governor of Kandahar.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, as delivered by Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special Representative for Afghanistan, to the sixth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process, in Amritsar, India, 4 December:

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: