Cooperation and multilateral approaches would be needed to address interlinked conflicts, cross-border humanitarian crises and violent extremism, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today, as it held its quarterly open debate on that region.
The General Assembly this morning confirmed the appointment of Achim Steiner of Germany as Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for a four-year term of office beginning 20 April.
The Economic and Social Council today adopted 10 decisions and elected dozens of members to its subsidiary bodies, as it kicked off the coordination and management meetings of its 2017 session.
Alarmed at the volatility and human rights situation in Libya, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative there cautioned today that the country risked a return to wide-spread conflict.
Given their intrinsic link to peace and security, the Security Council must take human rights into account in all its deliberations, the Secretary-General said today, as the Council held its first-ever thematic debate on that issue.
While a daunting $90 trillion would be required to tackle sustainable development challenges in the coming years, speakers at today’s General Assembly Action Event warned that the cost of inaction would ultimately be far deeper, with humanity’s very future hanging in the balance.
The Disarmament Commission elected the final member of its Bureau today, and heard presentations by the Chairs of its two working groups.
The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for a final six months today, deciding to replace it with a follow-up peacekeeping mission that would help the Government of Haiti strengthen rule-of-law institutions, further develop and support the Haitian National Police and engage in human rights monitoring, reporting and analysis.
In light of the threat posed by Al-Shabaab, drought and the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the Security Council Committee on sanctions in Eritrea and Somalia announced a possible future visit to the Horn of Africa today, as members expressed diverging views on arms embargoes imposed on those countries.
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Syria said today that, in the wake of the chemical attack on civilians in that country, there was an opportunity to redouble efforts for a political settlement of a conflict that could have no definitive military outcome.
