Africa

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

In Afghanistan, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights welcomed the commitment by the Government to improve the human rights situation, but he also urged more action to end attacks on civilians, mainly by extremists, and the continued discrimination against Afghan women at all levels of society.

On the seventieth anniversary of United Nations peacekeeping, the commanders of three of the Organization’s missions in Africa briefed the Security Council this afternoon on the increasingly complex challenges faced by Blue Helmets, emphasizing that their core role was to establish secure environments that would enable political solutions to take root.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until 31 October 2018, calling for a “realistic, practicable and enduring” political solution to end the decades‑old conflict.

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message to the second Women Leaders Forum for Africa’s Transformation, in Addis Ababa today:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the Sahel Alliance side event “Working Hand in Hand with the United Nations to Invest for the Future of Sahel”, in New York today:

Drought hits the Sahel region hard, with more than 10 million people expected to need emergency food assistance, up from 7.1 million currently, if adequate assistance is not provided in time. Poor rains in 2017 are now deeply affecting parts of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq commended Kurdistan Region political parties and blocs for signing the Electoral Charter of Honour on 18 April in Erbil.  He said that the Charter is essential to conducting the elections in a free, fair, impartial, transparent and credible manner.

A new report by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in cooperation with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, warns that armed groups in that country, including those affiliated with the State, hold thousands of people in prolonged arbitrary and unlawful detention, submitting them to torture and other rights violations.

Credible and inclusive elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, followed by a peaceful transfer of power, would have a positive effect on peace, stability and development in the wider Great Lakes region of Central Africa, speakers said today as the Security Council debated regional developments that also included humanitarian concerns and the activities of armed groups.