The Secretary-General urged Afghanistan’s two presidential candidates to conclude an agreement on a government of national unity in accordance with the commitments they made in July, emphasizing that both parties share a responsibility to guide the country to a peaceful and more prosperous future.
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The Secretary-General, over the weekend, made calls to world leaders, including the United Kingdom, France, and Cuba as well as the European Council, urging support for countries affected by Ebola, and underscoring the urgent need to increase assistance for more medical teams, transportation and funding.
Reiterating that there is no military solution to the crisis in Ukraine, the Secretary-General welcomes both the news of a ceasefire agreement between the Contact Group and representatives of armed groups, and the recent discussions between the Presidents of Ukraine and the Russian Federation which played a part in today’s breakthrough.
In a message to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization meeting on Afghanistan, the Secretary-General said that coordinated support of the country’s international partners was vital to a peaceful and stable future, and that a political transition must be consistent with the will of the Afghan community.
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, has called for a public and independent investigation by Iraqi authorities into the attack at Camp Speicher military base, where the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed it had executed some 1,700 captured soldiers and other military personnel.
The Secretary-General welcomed the lifting of the siege on the town of Amerli in Iraq. Due to the actions of the Iraqi Security Forces, the Kurdish Peshmerga and others, along with air support from the United States, a major humanitarian, as well as human rights disaster was successfully averted.
Updating the situation of peacekeepers in the Golan, the Spokesman said 44 Fijian troops are being detained and movement was still restricted for 72 Filipino troops. The United Nations is engaging with Member States who may have influence over armed opposition elements to encourage the peacekeepers’ safe release.
The Secretary-General is alarmed by reports that fighting in eastern Ukraine has spread southward, near the border of the Sea of Azov and the Russian Federation. If confirmed, this will mark a dangerous escalation in the Ukrainian crisis. The international community cannot allow a further escalation.
For the first time since 2007, a World Food Programme humanitarian convoy crossed from Egypt into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah gate. WFP says that it is important that it has access to the Strip from different routes to ensure a constant flow of supplies to meet the growing needs of people affected by the violence.
The Security Council welcomed progress against armed groups in Africa’s Great Lakes region. But it regretted the lack of significant progress made towards neutralizing the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda, which it called a priority in bringing stability to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region.