Half-way to 2030 with only 12 per cent of the Sustainable Development Goals targets on track, Member States must overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple worldwide crises that threaten decades of progress in order to achieve the Global Goals, speakers stressed, as the high-level political forum on sustainable development, held under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, opened today.
The parties to the conflict in Yemen must immediately stop military provocations and agree to a sustainable nationwide ceasefire, address economic priorities and restart an intra-Yemeni political process under United Nations auspices, the Organization’s senior official for that country told the Security Council today, as he spotlighted positive developments and urged members to encourage the parties to work along the path he outlined.
The Security Council decided today to extend, until 14 July 2024, the mandate of the United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA), established on 16 January 2019 following intra-Yemeni peace consultations held in Stockholm, Sweden.
Amid a protracted political impasse and deteriorating security and humanitarian situations in Haiti, briefers and senior officials urged the Security Council today to examined ways to address the multifaceted crisis, including the possible deployment of an international security force to curb armed gangs’ brutal violence in the beleaguered and embattled Caribbean country.
Stalled efforts to restore implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action have been complicated further by allegations that Iran transferred unmanned aerial vehicles to the Russian Federation for use in Ukraine, speakers told the Security Council today, with members — divided from the start — voting on whether to allow Ukraine to participate in the debate in the first place.
Briefing the Security Council today, the senior official tasked with advocating for children in armed conflict noted that 2022 held the highest number of grave violations ever verified by the United Nations, with Government armed and security forces the main perpetrators of the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access.
Prior to adopting 18 Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) draft texts, the General Assembly today took up the 2022 Security Council report, with some delegations appealing for a more substantive and analytical account of the 15-nation organ’s work, while others spotlighted the Council’s limitations due to the veto, which was preventing a timely response to threats to international peace and security.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today bolstered the operations of the Organization’s peacekeeping operations by approving $6.1 billion for nine active peacekeeping missions, three service centres and the support staff at Headquarters.
The Security Council decided today to terminate the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) as of 30 June 2023, ceasing its operations, transferring its tasks and withdrawing its personnel by 31 December 2023.
Prior to adopting two draft texts by consensus, the General Assembly voted on a contentious resolution that created a new mechanism to respond to the missing persons crisis in Syria, with some speakers arguing it could contribute to national reconciliation and sustainable peace and others stressing that, not only was Damascus not consulted, but the mechanism interferes with Syria’s internal affairs.
