The Secretary-General called today the “start of a new era”, as he handed over to the General Assembly the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to be endorsed at the Summit later this month. He said the new Agenda aimed high, putting people at the centre of development while fostering prosperity, peace and justice.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that in the past five days, civilians in the Yemeni city of Taiz have been caught between frontlines, subjected to indiscriminate violence and other human rights violations. Sixty-five people have been killed and more than 400 injured.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said serious human rights violations and abuses committed in Darfur in 2014 had largely gone uninvestigated and unpunished. Its report, based on information from the African Union-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), revealed widespread impunity.
Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, said a comprehensive response to conflict-related sexual violence must include proactive and purposeful engagement with the security sector, especially in settings where those services may have been involved in committing such abuse.
The Secretary-General is relieved that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) will be able to open its school year, safeguarding the education of 500,000 students in United Nations schools across the Middle East.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya expressed extreme concern over recent events involving militants claiming allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant/Sham in Sirte following reports of the terrorist group’s attacks in the area.
The Secretary-General condemns the assassination of Colonel Jean Bikomagu, the former Army Chief of Staff, in Burundi on 15 August. He reiterates his calls to all Burundians to resume an inclusive dialogue without delay to peacefully settle their differences.
United Nations humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien is scheduled to visit Syria and Lebanon from today until 17 August and is expected to meet with displaced and refugee families and to discuss with key officials ways of strengthening aid operations during the protracted conflict, which has displaced millions.
The Secretary-General, in a videoconference with the senior leadership of peacekeeping operations, addressed the ongoing sexual exploitation, abuse and misconduct by peacekeepers, stressing the United Nations zero-tolerance policy. He also discussed the matter further with the Security Council later in the day.
The Secretary-General, at the Security Council stakeout earlier today, said he had accepted the resignation of Babacar Gaye, his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, otherwise known as MINUSCA.