Continued violence in parts of Sudan, particularly sexual and ethnically targeted violence, risks engulfing the country in a prolonged conflict with regional spillover, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, as they warned that the country’s descent into a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe continues to deepen.
The Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) efforts to organize the next round of consultations with Syria continue to be unsuccessful, a senior official of the United Nations for Disarmament Affairs told the Security Council today, stressing that full cooperation by Damascus is essential to closing its chemical weapons file.
Adopting a presidential statement today, the Security Council reiterated its commitment to address conflict-induced food insecurity in situations of armed conflict during a day-long open debate on the matter, in which 80 speakers voiced alarm and urged unity to address the growing scale of food insecurity and human suffering due to conflict and violence.
Amid Colombia’s ongoing efforts to establish peace with several domestic armed groups, the Security Council today expanded the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in that country to monitor and verify the implementation of a ceasefire between the Government and the National Liberation Army (ELN).
Ukraine is forced to choose between its legitimate right to self-defence and its annihilation, several delegates told the Security Council today, as they contested the pretext under which today’s meeting was convened, noting its detrimental effect on the 15-member organ’s work.
Conflict prevention is the best method to protect civilians from harm, the Security Council heard today, as the Force Commanders of United Nations peacekeeping operations in South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Lebanon shared their experience and insight into how missions’ military components can help to implement such tasks.
The Security Council today extended its arms embargo against the Central African Republic for one year until 31 July 2024 yet lifted certain notification requirements that applied to the transfer and sales of arms to the country’s security forces, including State civilian law enforcement institutions.
The security situation in the West Bank has significantly deteriorated, highlighted by the most intensive Israeli operation in nearly 20 years, further jeopardizing the Israel-Palestine peace process, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.
Warning that 116 religious sites in Ukraine have been damaged since the Russian Federation’s invasion of that country began in February 2022, a senior United Nations official urged the warring parties today to respect and uphold fundamental human rights, including freedom of religion or belief and the right to manifest and practice one’s religion freely and safely.
Deliberately targeting infrastructure that facilitates the export of food to the rest of the world could be life-threatening to millions of people who need access to affordable food, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as speakers condemned the Russian Federation’s air strikes against ports and grain-storage facilities in Odesa.
