Today, in a message to a forum being held by the Palestinian Rights Committee to mark 50 years of occupation, the Secretary-General said it was time to return to direct negotiations and resolve all final status issues on the basis of relevant United Nations resolutions, agreements and international law.
Central African Republic
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today that the announcement of an end to famine conditions in South Sudan this week should not distract from the fact that severe food insecurity continues to put the lives of millions of children at risk in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and north-east Nigeria.
The Secretariat has concluded a review of the deployment of uniformed personnel from the Republic of Congo in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA. It found that the nature and extent of existing allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse point to systemic problems in command and control.
A record 141 million people across 37 countries need humanitarian assistance, according to the Global Humanitarian Overview 2017 Status Report, released today. Despite $6.2 billion in donations since the 2017 humanitarian appeal launch, requirements have risen to $23.5 billion, leaving the appeal 26 per cent funded.
The Secretary-General welcomed the adoption today of General Assembly resolution A/71/L66, which endorsed his proposal for a new United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism. He stressed that combatting terrorism and preventing violent extremism was one of the Organization’s highest priorities in its work towards international peace and security.
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Violence in the Central African Republic — including attacks on minority groups and peacekeepers — harkened back to the darkest days of that country’s past, but the United Nations peacekeeping mission there must nevertheless stay the course so as to consolidate progress towards peace, its chief told the Security Council today.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi urged Governments today to deliver a massive increase in places available for refugees in third countries, in line with last September’s New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, as the agency opened its annual resettlement consultations.
The Secretary-General is encouraged by progress in the implementation of the peace accord in Colombia, especially the recent delivery to the United Nations Mission of the first 30 per cent of the arms of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army (FARC-EP).
Speaking to reporters in Saint Petersburg, Russia, today, the Secretary-General said that climate change is undeniable, and added that climate action is unstoppable. He urged all the Governments around the world to stay the course and to remain committed to the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
The Secretary-General’s report “Reinvigorating the AIDS Response to Catalyse Sustainable Development and United Nations Reform” was presented today at the General Assembly. The Deputy Secretary-General, in presenting the report, said that “the AIDS pandemic is far from over”, and stressed that countries “need to do a better job of reaching young women and adolescent girls”.