The Secretary-General spoke at the Peace Bell Ceremony today to mark the International Day of Peace. He said the International Day is a day when we reiterate our belief in non-violence and call for a global ceasefire. He said that perhaps nowhere in the world is this more desperately needed than in Syria.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The Secretary-General yesterday said he was informed by the Syrian Government that Syria’s President has signed the legislative decree providing for Syria’s accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Authorities expressed their commitment to observe the Convention even before its entry into force for Syria.
In consultations this morning, the Security Council is expected to be briefed on the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Mary Robinson, the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and Martin Kobler, the head of the UN Mission in that country. Later, members will meet formally on Somalia.
The Commission of Inquiry dealing with human rights violations in Syria issued its latest report today, in which it says that civilians continue to pay the price for the failure to negotiate an end to this conflict. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost and more than 6 million Syrians have fled their homes.
Briefing the Security Council today, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia, Karin Landgren, said that as that country celebrated 10 years of uninterrupted peace, a sense of a unified nationhood was still a work in progress and small-scale outbreaks of violence were still routine.
The UN refugee agency said today it is increasingly worried about the safety of civilians in the Central African Republic after its staff reported widespread lawlessness during a field trip to the north of the country. They found seven villages burned to the ground and deserted — and an eighth village partially burned — with villagers hiding in the bush.
The Secretary-General is attending the opening sessions of the G-20 Summit in Saint Petersburg after a day of meetings with a range of leaders and officials. At the working dinner the Secretary-General briefed world leaders on developments in Syria.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today that the food security situation remains dire in the Sahel. It appealed to the international community to increase funding for aid to the most vulnerable farmers and herders. The agency said about 11 million people in the Sahel are still severely food insecure.
The Secretary-General today held a telephone call with Dr. Åke Sellström, head of the United Nations mission to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria, who briefed him on the next stages of the investigation process. All preparations for classifying the samples are progressing well, and transfer of the samples to laboratories will begin tomorrow.
The Secretary-General met today with Angela Kane, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, who briefed him on the current status of the investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria, reporting that the mission will be able to transmit its conclusions to the Secretary-General when it receives the results of the laboratory analysis of its samples.