Iran’s delegate described United States sanctions against his country as “tantamount to economic terrorism”, while a senior United Nations official called for preventing a serious confrontation in the region, as the Security Council considered the milestone 2015 agreement governing Tehran’s nuclear activities.
The scale of humanitarian needs in Syria will remain vast in 2020, with an estimated 11 million civilians projected to require assistance on a regular basis and 5 million in acute need of help, a senior humanitarian official told the Security Council today, urging that a mandate for the cross-border delivery of vital aid through neighbouring countries be renewed.
Expressing concern that ongoing military activities have the potential to escalate tensions between Israel and Syria, the Security Council today decided to renew the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for six months.
The Security Council today decided to extend until 20 December 2020 the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), along with its Intervention Brigade.
The General Assembly proclaimed 2022‑2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages today, inviting indigenous peoples — as custodians — to initiate ideas for preserving this endangered facet of their cultural and social life, as it adopted 60 resolutions and one decision recommended by its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).
With extraordinary political change under way in Sudan, its transitional Government must ensure justice for the victims of atrocities in Darfur by either prosecuting the five suspects wanted by the International Criminal Court, including former President Omer Hassan Ahmed al‑Bashir, in Sudanese courts or to send them to The Hague for trial without delay, the Chief Prosecutor told the Security Council today.
Reaffirming the crucial role of international law and the United Nations efforts to promote those principles, the General Assembly today adopted, without a vote, 17 draft resolutions and 9 draft decisions recommended by its Sixth Committee (Legal), as well a text related to the work of the Credentials Committee.
Reporting to the Security Council today that prospects for a two-State resolution of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians continue to fade, the Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace called for the international community to go beyond rhetoric when encouraging progress.
The United Nations ability to carry out its mandate has been constrained by cash shortages in 2018 and 2019, its top official for accounting-related activities warned the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today, as the representative of the Russian Federation challenged the way the Organization is managing the liquidity crisis.
At today’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) meeting, Japan’s delegate expressed her concerns with a Secretariat request to approve $64.5 million in new charges against the contingency fund set aside for the Organization’s upcoming 2020 regular budget.
