Noon Briefings

The Security Council heard a briefing on Darfur today from Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet, who said the security situation remained very serious, with continued need for substantial humanitarian assistance and limited progress in the peace process.

The Secretary-General was today in Tajikistan, where he took part in the opening of the High-Level International Conference on the International Decade “Water for Life”, highlighting water’s multifaceted importance in the sustainable development goals.

Member States this morning received the Secretary-General’s report on children and armed conflict, which says that 2014 saw unprecedented challenges for the protection of tens of millions of children growing up in countries impacted by conflict.

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman briefed the Security Council on the situation in Ukraine, saying that while it remained tenuous in the east, there were grounds for hope, including that the ceasefire continued to largely hold, the number and pace of casualties had slowed and that the process was under way to set up measures to implement the Minsk Agreements.

The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria met today, in Istanbul, with the President and members of the political committee of the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, with both parties agreeing on the urgency of finding a political solution to the conflict and of an immediate halt of the killing and targeting of civilians.

In light of recent allegations of sexual abuse against children in the Central African Republic by foreign troops not under the authority of the United Nations, the Secretary-General will set up an external independent review to examine the UN system's handling of these allegations.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that some 2.8 million people remain in need of humanitarian assistance as a result of the earthquake in Nepal.  The Nepal Flash Appeal, revised down to $422 million, is currently underfunded with only $120 million having been received so far.

United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) reports that a total of 1,031 Iraqis were killed and another 1,684 were wounded during the month of May.  The Head of the Mission there says for any military gains to be sustainable, the Government must adopt a set of confidence-building measures towards disaffected communities.

The Secretary-General has appointed Eugene Owusu of Ghana as his Deputy Special Representative in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), who will also serve as Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.

On Iraq, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that more than 85,000 internally displaced persons have fled Ramadi District, bringing the total to 180,000 families displaced since 8 April.  The United Nations and its partners are providing shelter, water and sanitation, and food.