Press Release

The Security Council announced on 14 August its failure to adopt a draft resolution aimed at extending arms-related restrictions on Iran, set to expire in October under resolution 2231 (2015).

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the fourth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Colombia (document S/2019/1017), agreed to convey the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group:

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

On 10 August, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Sylvia Lopez-Ekra of Côte d’Ivoire as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Morocco, with the host Government’s approval.

On 1 August, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Allegra Maria del Pilar Baiocchi of Italy as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Costa Rica, with the host Government’s approval.

The new Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, presented his credentials to the Secretariat today.

Disarmament is at the heart of the collective security system set out in the United Nations Charter, with its goal to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”.  In commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversaries of the establishment of the United Nations and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Office for Disarmament Affairs is launching the “75 Words for Disarmament Youth Challenge”.

The COVID-19 pandemic — beyond having crippling effects on health systems — threatens to worsen current conflicts and foment new ones, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on 12 August, as delegates echoed his call during a high-level videoconference meeting for comprehensive, integrated responses that will preserve hard-won development gains.

The General Assembly adopted 10 resolutions and decisions by its silence procedure from 6 to 12 August, including one extending its seventy-fourth session until mid-September and several postponing events and deadlines for report submissions, reflecting ongoing COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council open videoconference on “Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace:  Pandemics and the Challenges of Sustaining Peace”, today: