Intense fighting in besieged eastern Ghouta had claimed thousands of lives in the last few months alone, the top United Nations humanitarian official told the Security Council today, as he pressed parties to the wider conflict in Syria to implement resolution 2401 (2018) and allow unimpeded aid delivery throughout the country.
It was important to consider the costs associated with deploying female peacekeepers, post-deployment medical expenses and the unique challenges faced by Blue Helmet personnel working in particularly dangerous environments, speakers said today as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) discussed the findings of a survey on the reimbursement rate for troop- and police-contributing countries.
The Security Council renewed the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) today, extending it until 31 March 2019 with a more focused mandate to help protect civilians and support implementation of the New Year’s Eve political agreement, including preparations for elections later in 2018.
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) until 31 March 2019, as previously set out in resolution 2158 (2014).
While the abominable buying and selling of human beings had been abolished some 200 years ago, the nefarious impacts of that practice were still present in everyday realities, speakers stressed today as the General Assembly marked the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Developments on the ground could not be divorced from a backdrop of continued military occupation, regional turmoil and unilateral actions, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today, expressing concern about actions that undermined peace.
The Commission on the Status of Women, concluding its sixty‑second session today, approved a set of Agreed Conclusions aimed at accelerating gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls, as well as resolutions on assistance to Palestinian women, the release of women and children hostages and the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and the girl child.
The United Nations senior-most humanitarian official and the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) came together today to urge the Security Council to play a greater role in breaking the link between hunger and conflict, stating that in doing so, it would make a significant contribution to famine eradication and sustainable development.
The environmental monitoring network in the Lake Chad Basin was inadequate, sparse, poorly funded and badly operated, a representative of the commission overseeing its management told the Security Council today, as delegates explored the causes of conflict and dire human suffering in the region.
While a spirit of optimism was taking hold in Libya, even amid persistent security concerns, a predatory economic system — including the oil smuggling and human trafficking — must be overcome if elections in 2018 were to succeed in restoring peace and stability, the United Nations senior official in the country told the Security Council today.
