PRETORIA, 31 August — The 2016 International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East opened in Pretoria today, with well-known film-makers, journalists, politicians, academics and other experts exploring new ways to narrate the complex and evolving story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Political leaders in Guinea-Bissau must put aside partisan considerations and focus on national interests and the welfare of the suffering population, the Security Council heard today during a briefing on the situation in that West African country.
The Security Council this morning extended the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for one year until 31 August 2017, as it expressed concern at limited progress made towards a permanent ceasefire, a decade after the adoption of resolution 1701 (2006), which ended a flare up of violence with Israel that year.
With no prospect for resuming peace negotiations in sight, developments on the ground in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories continued to undermine an already precarious situation, said Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, briefing the Security Council today.
Having reached a historic milestone in resuming control of its own security, Liberia — along with its international partners — must redouble efforts to sustain progress and meet the challenge of upcoming elections, the senior United Nations official in that country told the Security Council today.
The situation in Kosovo over the past three months had become more stable, but the threat of security and political tensions still lurked beneath the surface, the head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) told the Security Council today.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called upon all States to focus on eradicating weapons of mass destruction today, as the Security Council held a day-long open debate on the issue where speakers underscored the evolving threat of such weapons falling into the hands of non-State actors and terrorist groups.
The city of Aleppo risked a humanitarian catastrophe unparalleled in the more than five years of carnage seen during the Syrian conflict, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council today, stressing the need for a 48-hour pause in fighting by all sides in order for aid to reach millions of civilians in dire need.
Welcoming the continued political and security progress in Somalia, the Security Council today underscored the need to maintain the momentum towards democratic governance with an inclusive, transparent and credible national electoral process this year as a stepping stone to universal suffrage elections in 2020.
The Security Council today renewed the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until 30 June 2017, authorizing the expansion of peacekeeping forces and stressing the priority of civilian protection in its mandate.
