The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, arrived in Cali, Colombia, from New York on Monday night, 28 October, to attend the high-level segment of the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16).
Welcoming progress made towards peace across Colombia amid the Government’s outreach efforts with women, youth and ethnic groups, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia for one year to monitor and verify implementation of a ceasefire between the Government and armed groups.
The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) today reported that between July and September, over 1,200 people were killed there and more than 500 injured by gang violence, as well as in the fight against gangs. During the same period, the mission also documented 170 kidnappings for ransom.
The UN Secretary-General has issued a statement of deep concern over the Israeli Knesset’s adoption Monday of two laws, which if implemented, would likely prevent the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from continuing its essential work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Pascale Baeriswyl (Switzerland):
Colombia’s peace process has set a global benchmark for the inclusion of women thanks to their strong advocacy for the implementation of gender provisions and meaningful participation in peace dialogues, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today. However, a feminist activist highlighted that only less than 13 per cent of the agreed gender provisions have been fully implemented, urging further efforts on that front.
The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the sixth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Colombia (S/2024/161), agreed to address the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group.
In Ethiopia, since 23 July, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs have been on the ground in areas impacted by the landslide. The Organization, along with its partners, are already dispatching assistance, including food, nutrition, health and other critical supplies.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Vassily A. Nebenzia (Russian Federation):
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UN peacekeepers provided training to 400 new recruits of the Congolese Armed Forces to better equip them to respond to the abuses committed against civilians by armed groups in hard-to-reach areas.
