Colombia

The Security Council met for its debate on Afghanistan this morning, during which it renewed the mandate for the United Nations Mission there (UNAMA).  The Secretary-General’s Special Representative highlighted the challenging security environment in the country, which in 2016 resulted in UNAMA recording the highest number of civilian casualties in a single year.

At its sixty-second meeting, on 14 February 2017, the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the third report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Colombia (document S/2016/837), agreed to address the following messages through a public statement issued by the Chair of the Working Group.

A new report by the Joint Human Rights Office of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo says defence and security forces used excessive, disproportionate and lethal force to prevent and contain last December’s demonstrations, in which at least 40 people were killed.

The Secretary-General welcomes donor pledges made today at the conclusion of the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin, where 14 donors pledged $458 million for 2017.  The Conference also resulted in an agreement to address longer-term development needs and seek lasting solutions to the crisis.

The United Nations Mission in Colombia said yesterday that nearly 7,000 FARC-EP members have arrived in zones where it will verify the laying down of arms.  General Javier Pérez Aquino, head of the United Nations Mission’s observers, said the decision to move into the zones despite limited logistics is very positive.

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

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq briefed the Security Council today noting the progress that had been made by Iraqi forces in Mosul.  He said that in the foreseeable future, the liberation operations in Iraq are coming to an end and the days of Da’esh are numbered.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has designated Diego García-Sayán of Peru as member of the Selection Mechanism mandated to select judges and other officials for the Special Jurisdiction for Peace established by the peace agreement reached in Colombia last year.

This morning the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations briefed the Security Council on Darfur.  Although there been a decrease in armed conflict in Darfur, he said, civilians had remained exposed to significant sources of insecurity such as intercommunal conflict and criminality.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Tania Patriota of Brazil as his Deputy Special Representative for Colombia and Deputy Head of the United Nations Mission in Colombia.