Despite the overall negative trajectory that had characterized the Israeli‑Palestinian conflict for far too long, there were reasons for cautious optimism, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs told the Security Council today as the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question, was addressed in an all‑day debate that heard from more than forty speakers.
With regional forces being deployed in South Sudan to strengthen civilian protection, that country’s leaders still bore direct responsibility to end the bloodshed through efforts to reinvigorate the political process, the United Nations peacekeeping chief stressed to the Security Council today.
As the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) completed its mandate on 15 October, the Security Council welcomed the notable progress made by Haiti towards stability and democracy.
Sounding the alarm on famine exacerbated by conflict, Secretary-General António Guterres urged the international community to step up efforts to end violence, ensure humanitarian assistance and foster long-term development in South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen and other areas of instability-rooted starvation.
The United Nations peacekeeping operation in Haiti would close on 15 October and be replaced the following day by a smaller successor mission to help the Government consolidate stability, implement institutional reforms and enhance the rule of law, human rights and governance, the United Nations top official in the country told the Security Council this morning.
The top United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today urged international and regional stakeholders to help the country avert worsening instability by advancing progress on elections and other stalled components of the recent political agreement.
With parties to the conflict in Yemen pursuing a futile and cruel military conflict of benefit only to a few of the powerful, millions of citizens were enduring the worst suffering in the nation’s history, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for that country told the Security Council today.
The Security Council this morning endorsed a new Action Plan for the resumption of an inclusive Libyan-owned political process under the facilitation and leadership of the United Nations.
Security Council leadership was critical in ensuring the full implementation of performance, training and conduct requirements for United Nations peacekeeping operations, the Organization’s peacekeeping chief told the Council this afternoon as it discussed strategic force generation.
Welcoming “remarkable achievements” in Colombia following agreements to end long-term civil strife, the Security Council decided this afternoon that the United Nations Verification Mission there would expand its work to include monitoring a ceasefire recently signed by the Government and the group known as Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN).
