Press Release

On 16 July, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities approved the addition of the entry specified below to its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2368 (2017), and adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

More than 150 religious actors and prominent leaders today welcomed the momentous step taken by the representatives of the Christian, Kakai, Shia, Sunni and Yazidi communities in Iraq through the adoption of an Interfaith Statement on the Victims and Survivors of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) in March.  This was convened as part of a virtual conference hosted jointly by the Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, the United Nations Investigative Team to promote accountability for the crimes committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) and Religions for Peace. 

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Christoph Heusgen (Germany):

The General Assembly on 10 July opened its thirty-first special session on the COVID-19 pandemic, the first special session convened in four years, with a general debate envisioned and questions remaining about the format and modalities for holding formal meetings on a virtual platform.

War-torn Yemen and the wider Red Sea region face an environmental catastrophe of epic proportions if United Nations experts fail to get swift access to the ageing — and now leaking — offshore oil storage vessel FSO Safer, briefers warned during a 15 July videoconference meeting of the Security Council.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the opening of the ministerial segment of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council, in New York today:

The United Nations Department of Global Communications Civil Society Association Committee approved the association of five civil society organizations with the Department on Friday, 26 June.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Christoph Heusgen (Germany):

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message at the launch of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 report, in New York today:

Addressing what has become the worst human crisis in decades requires a new dynamic to overcome the widespread negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Economic and Social Council’s President said at its 2020 high-level political forum on sustainable development, held from 7 to 17 July via videoconference due to coronavirus-related restrictions at United Nations Headquarters.