Describing reports of severe suffering, starvation and indiscriminate attacks on civilians amid the ongoing fighting in Syria, humanitarian officials briefed the Security Council today, offering glimpses of hope while urging sustained action to end the six-year-long conflict in that country.
The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until 31 July 2017 today, while encouraging the divided island nation’s leaders to “grasp the current opportunity” of recent progress in negotiations to secure a comprehensive settlement of the dispute between them.
Expressing its concerns over the prevalence of violent extremism that could be conducive to terrorism, the Security Council strongly condemned all terrorist attacks in West Africa, notably those carried out by Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin.
The Security Council endorsed today the decisions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union to recognize Adama Barrow as President-elect of the Gambia.
Delegates in the Security Council today called for the continued implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear programme, praising the historic accord as a significant diplomatic achievement that had made the world a safer place in the first year of its performance.
A car bomb that killed more than 50 people at a military base in Gao this morning was a stark reminder of the multiple obstacles hobbling Mali’s ongoing peace process, the head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council today.
Divisive positions among Israelis and Palestinians following last month’s adoption of resolution 2334 (2016) risked destroying the prospects for peace, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today, stressing that both sides must create the conditions for launching direct final-status negotiations.
Amid a “rising tide of democracy” across the African continent, the United Nations must continue to support regional efforts to ensure that the Gambia’s recent election results were upheld, stressed the Organization’s senior official in West Africa and the Sahel as he briefed the Security Council this morning.
Despite the gains made against Boko Haram by countries in the Lake Chad Basin region, the extremist group remained a threat, carrying out asymmetric attacks against civilians, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, stressing that only a concerted international approach would help repair the material and social damage inflicted on communities.
Despite a significant decrease in armed conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, civilians remained exposed to violence and criminality, while long-term comprehensive solutions to address the needs of the region’s 2.6 million displaced persons remained elusive, said the United Nations peacekeeping chief as he briefed the Security Council this morning.
