Briefing the Security Council today, the senior official tasked with advocating for children in armed conflict noted that 2022 held the highest number of grave violations ever verified by the United Nations, with Government armed and security forces the main perpetrators of the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access.
Prior to adopting 18 Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) draft texts, the General Assembly today took up the 2022 Security Council report, with some delegations appealing for a more substantive and analytical account of the 15-nation organ’s work, while others spotlighted the Council’s limitations due to the veto, which was preventing a timely response to threats to international peace and security.
The Security Council decided today to terminate the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) as of 30 June 2023, ceasing its operations, transferring its tasks and withdrawing its personnel by 31 December 2023.
Prior to adopting two draft texts by consensus, the General Assembly voted on a contentious resolution that created a new mechanism to respond to the missing persons crisis in Syria, with some speakers arguing it could contribute to national reconciliation and sustainable peace and others stressing that, not only was Damascus not consulted, but the mechanism interferes with Syria’s internal affairs.
The issue of supplying weapons to Ukraine divided both those briefing the Security Council today and the discussion that followed, as contentions that arms transfers have escalated the conflict met assertions that the embattled country has the inherent right to defend itself from the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion.
Describing a worsening humanitarian and security situation in Syria, amid an uptick in violence in the north-west of the country and with 90 per cent of Syrians living below the poverty line, senior United Nations officials called for the Humanitarian Response Plan to be fully funded and the cross-border aid mechanism to be renewed for another 12 months, as they briefed the Security Council today.
The Security Council today decided to renew the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan for six months, until 31 December 2023, while requesting the Secretary-General to ensure that it has the required capacity and resources to fulfil its mandate in a safe manner.
The Security Council today unanimously adopted a resolution renewing its authorization of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) by six months until December in support of the Government’s preparation for phase two and the Mission’s troop drawdown.
Amid ongoing violence perpetrated by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Security Council today renewed the sanctions regime imposed on that country and extended until 1 August 2024 the mandate of the Group of Experts overseeing its implementation.
A senior United Nations official today warned the Security Council of the alarming spike in violence across the northern and central occupied West Bank, leading to numerous Palestinian and Israeli casualties.
