A two-day event on women, peace and security began in Addis Ababa today in preparation for the 2019 United Nations peacekeeping ministerial conference set for New York in March. President Sahle Work Zewde of Ethiopia and Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, Special Representative to the African Union, addressed the gathering.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The United High Commissioner for Human Rights today condemned this week’s protests in Venezuela and called for effective investigations into the violence that has led to several deaths and injuries. She urged all sides to conduct immediate talks to defuse the increasingly incendiary atmosphere.
Fourteen new cases of Ebola were reported in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the largest one-day increase since the beginning of the outbreak on 1 August 2018, United Nations humanitarian affairs officials reported yesterday. Nine of the new cases were detected near Butembo, a city of a million inhabitants.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) is continuing its operations in Bambari in Ouaka prefecture. It has established new check posts and resumed patrolling in Muslim neighbourhoods, in addition to conducting robust patrols in the other areas of town.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights today expressed concern after the approval in first reading of a bill to amend Guatemala’s National Reconciliation Law. If adopted, the amendment would result in a generalized amnesty for all cases of grave human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict.
Some 170 people either died or went missing in two separate shipwrecks on the Mediterranean Sea, according to UNHCR. NGO sources said that some 53 people died on the Alborán Sea in the western Mediterranean, while Italy’s navy reported 117 out of 120 people dead or missing in an additional shipwreck on the central Mediterranean.
Michael Bloomberg, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Climate Action, today announced the founding members of the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative, who will help facilitate the private financing objectives of the Paris Agreement.
The Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations briefed the Security Council on Mali today. Despite noting progress to implement the 2015 peace agreement, she however added that the security situation remains of concern, with attacks targeting peacekeepers, national and international forces, and civilians.
The United Nations system in Syria says it is gravely concerned about the protection of thousands of people who are estimated to remain trapped by ongoing fighting in Da’esh-held areas of Hajin in south-eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate, as well as for some 11,000 who have fled these areas since December 2018.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said global trade in creative goods and services, including the fashion, design, media and software industries, is expanding mostly because of China, doubling from $208 billion in 2002 to $509 billion in 2015. India, Singapore, Turkey, Thailand and Mexico also stimulated that growth.