The first quarter of 2024 was the deadliest for Haitians with around 2,500 people killed or injured in gang violence, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council, calling for the urgent deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission authorized by the 15-member body in October 2023.
While tensions have simmered in recent months due to an inability to address long-standing issues through dialogue, the senior United Nations official in Kosovo told the Security Council today that the establishment of a community of Serb-majority municipalities could provide a solution to normalization, as speakers also urged Belgrade and Pristina to recommit to European Union-facilitated dialogue.
One year after fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group brutally interrupted Sudan’s democratic political transition, the outlook for its people is bleak, as conflict continues to rage, and the risk of famine is imminent, a senior United Nations official today told the Security Council, urging scaled-up action by the parties to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access.
During an era of “profound uncertainty” and as the international rules-based order “is being rigorously tested”, the Head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) told the Security Council today that belief in the multilateral system is at the core of the regional group’s agenda for 2024, as it focuses on resolving conflicts in the region including the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine.
Urging maximum restraint following recent escalations in the Middle East, the Head of the United Nations urged an end to the deadly cycle of retaliation and called on the international community to work together to avert a full-scale regional conflict, first by ending hostilities in Gaza and ultimately by realizing the two-State solution, as the Security Council today convened its quarterly open debate on the situation in the region.
The Security Council today blocked Palestine’s bid to become a full member of the United Nations due to a United States veto on a draft resolution that would have recommended the granting of such status.
The Head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) told the Security Council today that the Agency is the “backbone” of the humanitarian response in Gaza, noting that — while its mandate is supported by an “overwhelming” majority of Member States — it faces efforts to push it out of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The multifaceted challenges facing the Mediterranean amplify the region’s fragility and pose a fundamental obstacle to peace and security, the Security Council heard today as delegates underscored that the region’s youth are both the greatest victims of the security challenges and a key to resolving them.
The obstinance of the rival Governments and other key players in Libya is exacerbating the country’s political impasse and obstructing plans to hold elections this year, risking further instability, the UN’s top official there told the Security Council today.
In the wake of recent attacks on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — Europe’s largest — the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog warned the Security Council today that the first-ever war to be fought amid the facilities of a major nuclear power programme is bringing the prospect of nuclear accident “dangerously close”.
