The security situation in the capital of the Central African Republic had taken a turn for the better, but it remained a matter of concern in other parts of the country, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations told the Security Council today, emphasizing the need for ongoing international attention.
Any breakthrough in the institutional crisis gripping Guinea-Bissau would be short-lived if the structural causes of instability were not addressed, the senior United Nations official in the West African country told the Security Council today, urging national actors to implement the Conakry Agreement signed last year to surmount the political impasse.
The Security Council today called upon Member States to address the danger of terrorist attacks against critical infrastructure, adopting a related resolution before holding a day-long open debate on that subject.
The Security Council called today upon the newly elected President of Somalia to pay urgent attention to the immediate risk of famine, take active steps to prevent it and address the consequences of the severe drought confronting the country.
With transparent constitutional referendum, credible legislative elections in December 2016 and improved security paving the way for a successful transition to sustainable peace in Côte d’Ivoire, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country was on track to leave after 14 years, its chief told the Security Council this afternoon.
Despite some important advances in Libya, not nearly enough progress had been made in implementing the political accord forged last year, the United Nations top envoy to the country told the Security Council today, stressing that terrorism remained a threat, living conditions were poor and armed groups continued to abuse human rights with impunity.
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the Panel of Experts charged with monitoring sanctions in Darfur until 12 March 2018, underscoring the need for it to have full access to the region and insisting that the Government of Sudan remove all restrictions imposed on its work.
While Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) was on the defensive militarily in Iraq and Syria, its fighters, fleeing beyond those borders, were expanding their attacks to Europe and Africa, the United Nations political affairs chief warned in the Security Council today, urging action to combat the rise of terrorism.
The recent dangerous uptick in fighting seen in eastern Ukraine had left hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk of losing all access to water, heat and electricity, a particularly worrying development given the current plummeting winter temperatures, the Security Council heard this afternoon.
With the campaign to oust Da’esh fighters from Iraq “nearly won”, the country’s international partners must remain engaged because any abrupt scale-down in support would risk grave consequences both within and beyond the nation’s borders, the top-ranking United Nations official there cautioned in the Security Council today.
