Guinea‑Bissau, having made crucial strides towards overcoming its long‑standing political impasse, must hold free, fair and inclusive elections as scheduled in November or risk rolling back its fragile progress, senior officials briefing the Security Council emphasized today.
The Security Council adopted its annual report to the General Assembly today for the period 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017.
The Security Council today renewed for one year sanctions imposed by resolution 2374 (2017) concerning Mali, also extending until 30 September 2019 the mandate of the expert panel established to monitor their implementation.
With conflicts taking on transnational dimensions, peace agreements growing more elusive and political will waning, the United Nations must be “bold and creative” in harnessing the avenues and capacities available for mediation, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council today in an open debate on the topic.
One year after the start of the Rohingya refugee crisis, the Security Council considered today the report issued by the independent fact-finding mission dispatched to that country, which alleges that national security forces committed gross human rights violations and abuses that “undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law”.
Escalating military clashes and renewed air strikes in north‑west Syria — especially Idlib Governorate, covered under an international “de‑escalation zone” agreement — represent a worrying trend, threatening some 3 million residents as well as the already fragile delivery of aid, a senior United Nations humanitarian official told the Security Council today.
With fewer than four months remaining until critical elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Security Council members today urged that country’s Government to resolve outstanding disputes, build trust among the participating parties and avoid any actions that could jeopardize the nation’s first peaceful democratic transfer of power.
Despite suffering “significant” losses, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) has morphed from a regional group into a covert global network, with a weakened yet enduring core in Iraq and Syria, the head of United Nations counter-terrorism told the Security Council today.
Warning that fuel and medicine are in “dangerously short supply” in the Gaza Strip, the senior United Nations political affairs official urged international donors today to boost their aid deliveries, while calling on Israelis and Palestinians to exercise maximum restraint amid the recent spate of violence.
The General Assembly today approved the nomination of Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile, as the next United Nations human rights chief for a four‑year term, beginning on 1 September 2018.
