Colombia

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Vassily A. Nebenzia (Russian Federation):

Colombia is forging ahead in its total peace policy, rooted in its implementation of the Final Agreement with the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People’s Army  (FARC-EP), despite facing multiple challenges, the Special Representative for the country told the Security Council today.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reported today that they have initiated steps to help the country address potential challenges from the onset of this year’s rainy season.

United Nations humanitarian partners are providing water, hygiene and sanitation services, and shelter materials to temporary displacement sites in Malawi, and food and water treatment chemicals to Mozambique, following the destruction wrought by Tropical Cyclone Freddy. Heavy rain and wind continue to hamper those operations.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) today released its newest survey on opium cultivation. The agency estimates that poppy cultivation in Myanmar has increased by 33 per cent in the first season since the military takeover.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Ishikane Kimihiro (Japan):

The Secretary-General has extended the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon from 1 March until 31 December to complete non-judicial residual functions and ensure its orderly closure. Mandated to conduct the trials of those accused of carrying out the 14 February 2005 attacks in Beirut, its work is coming to an end.

Unanimously adopting resolution 2673 (2023), the Security Council today decided that the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia shall monitor the implementation of certain provisions of the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace relating to rural reform and ethnic perspectives.

Uganda today marked the end of its Ebola outbreak, with Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Head of the World Health Organization, stressing that Ebola can be defeated when the whole system works together, and Resident United Nations Coordinator in Uganda Susan Ngongi Namondo appealing to the public to continue embracing prevention measures.

On 31 December 2022, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Maritime Task Force assisted the Lebanese Armed Forces-Navy with a search-and-rescue operation relating to a boat in distress off the northern coast, between Beirut and Tripoli.