Crime on the high seas is becoming increasingly sophisticated, endangering human life on land, the economic growth of entire regions and global safety, the head of the United Nations anti-crime agency warned the Security Council today, underscoring the vital role of international legal treaties in combating the scourge.
From illicit trafficking in the Sahel, to post-election violence in Côte d’Ivoire and innumerable abuses against civilians in the Central African Republic, mercenary activities in Africa are a serious concern and must command greater attention, senior officials told the Security Council today as they debated solutions to an often-invisible scourge.
The Security Council today decided to extend its sanctions regime on the Central African Republic — including an arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze — until 31 January 2020, while also extending the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the Central African Republic Sanctions Committee until 29 February 2020.
Harsh winter conditions and ongoing hostilities in some parts of Syria have resulted in the forced displacement of tens of thousands more civilians across the war-ravaged country, exacerbating the already dire humanitarian situation, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator warned during his briefing to the Security Council today.
The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until 31 July 2019 today, unanimously adopting resolution 2453 (2019).
Following widespread protests and political upheaval in Venezuela — a country plagued by food shortages, deteriorating basic services and an inflation rate of more than 1 million per cent — all actors must exercise maximum restraint and avoid any further escalation, said a senior United Nations official during an emergency meeting of the Security Council today.
Climate change poses risks to international peace and security through massive displacement of people and increased competition for scarce natural resources, speakers told the Security Council today while expressing divergent views on what the 15-member organ can do about it.
The broad public consensus in Colombia in support of the country’s 2016 peace agreement — which ended more than 50 years of bloody civil strife — must be preserved and bolstered, with swift action to address lingering violence and terrorist acts, the Secretary-General’s newly appointed Special Representative told the Security Council today.
The prospects for a viable, contiguous State of Palestine have dwindled as Israel continues its illegal settlement expansion in occupied Palestinian territory, speakers told the Security Council today, noting also that the lack of progress on intra-Palestinian reconciliation persists, and that violence between the Israelis and Palestinians shows no signs of abating.
Without the international community’s support in Libya, spoilers will sabotage the political process and unravel the fragile and easily reversible progress made amid an already grim backdrop of sporadic violence and rising humanitarian needs, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the country warned today in a briefing to the Security Council.
