Press Release

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the Central Sahel Conference, today:

The new Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, presented his credentials to the Secretariat today.

As the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to batter the economies of developing countries, the five regional commissions of the United Nations system are crucial to fostering the multilateralism required to recover and pursue the Sustainable Development Goals, those speakers told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) as it met with those bodies today.

On 15 October, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Issa Sanogo of Cote d’Ivoire as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Madagascar, with the host Government’s approval.

On 2 October, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Coulibaly Siaka of Côte d’Ivoire as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Senegal, with the host Government’s approval.

On 1 October, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Valerie Julliand of France as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Indonesia, with the host Government’s approval.

The ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories and the Syrian Golan violates international law and human rights, a situation worsening as the COVID‑19 pandemic puts health infrastructure “on the verge of collapse”, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) heard today as it took up a report on the issue.

Questions around the right to free assembly, creation of an equitable world order and efforts to stem enforced disappearances — a crime that is soon to reach 1,000 cases a day — took centre stage in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates evaluated the human rights norms underpinning State relations since the Second World War.

The new Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, José A. Blanco Conde, presented his credentials to the Secretariat today.

Following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Vassily Nebenzia (Russian Federation):