Amid the alarming humanitarian situation in Sudan, the Security Council today adopted by 14 votes in favour — with the Russian Federation abstaining — a resolution demanding that the Rapid Support Forces halt the siege of El Fasher and calling for an immediate halt to the fighting and de-escalation in and around the capital city of North Darfur State.
There is an urgent need to address recent concerning developments in Yemen, which compound existing obstacles to lasting peace in the country, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, pointing to the detention of UN colleagues and a slew of stringent banking directives expected to worsen the already dire humanitarian emergency gripping the country.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea invests most of its efforts into developing its military power, ignoring the State’s responsibility to allow its people to live full lives, a defector from that country told the Security Council today, stating that he wanted to become his country’s diplomat before discovering its “horrific truth”.
While renewed cooperation between Syrian authorities and the Declaration Assessment Team of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has borne positive results, the United Nations’ disarmament chief told the Security Council today that further cooperation is needed, as Council members debated whether the organ should continue to meet on this file despite slow progress in its resolution.
Delegates today welcomed milestones reached by a United Nations war crime court in completing its judicial phase for atrocities committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and called for renewed support for its duties related to accountability and justice, as the Security Council heard briefings from top officials of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), ahead of a resolution to renew its mandate later in June.
After 247 days of war in Gaza, the Security Council today adopted by 14 votes in favour — with the Russian Federation abstaining — a resolution proposing a comprehensive three-phase ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, urging both Israel and Hamas to implement it fully and without delay and condition.
Briefing the Security Council on the situation in Central Africa, a senior United Nations official said that the region has seen positive developments over the past six months, as Council members commended political progress in some countries of that region, while also recognizing their substantive political, economic and social challenges.
Extending the mandates of the Ombudsperson and the Monitoring Team of the sanctions regime against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as Da’esh, and Al-Qaida, the Security Council today also updated the criteria for designating individuals, groups and entities on the regime’s list to include the committing of acts of sexual and gender-based violence.
Underlining the need to raise awareness of the value of diversity of civilizations and promote dialogue, mutual respect, tolerance and global solidarity, the General Assembly today adopted by consensus a resolution declaring 10 June the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations.
Ahead of an international summit for peace in Ukraine to be held in Switzerland on 15-16 June, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today that May saw the highest number of civilian casualties in a single month since June 2023 as she detailed the humanitarian situation amidst ongoing offensives in the country’s north-east.
