The Security Council heard today dissenting assertions from three briefers — two calling attention to Russophobia in Ukraine and one countering that claim as a colonial endeavour to justify war crimes — in a meeting requested by the Russian Federation, as delegates weighed in with their own prescriptions.
Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the most repressive country in the world for women’s rights, the senior United Nations official in Afghanistan told the Security Council today, spotlighting numerous restrictions imposed on women’s right to travel, study, and work freely, including for non-governmental organizations, making the response to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis even more challenging.
The Security Council voted today to extend through 12 March 2024 the mandate of the Panel of Experts charged with assisting its Sudan sanctions committee, while also expressing its intention to review those sanctions in light of progress achieved by the Government on several key benchmarks.
From freedoms vanishing under Afghanistan’s Taliban regime to sexual violence committed against the backdrop of war in Ukraine, the rights of women around the globe remain under threat more than two decades after the Security Council first decided to crystalize the issue on its agenda, delegates heard today, during a ministerial-level debate on women, peace and security.
Syria’s full cooperation with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is essential to closing all outstanding issues related to its initial and subsequent declarations, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today during its monthly briefing on implementation of resolution 2118 (2013) on elimination of the country’s chemical weapons programme, highlighting that long-standing identified gaps, inconsistencies, and discrepancies remain unresolved.
The current year will be a “make-or-break” one for South Sudan, marking the start of a recent — and singular — 24-month extension of its transition process, United Nations officials told the Security Council today, warning against any further delays in implementing the young nation’s Revitalized Peace Agreement.
The earthquakes that struck Türkiye and Syria in recent weeks have only compounded suffering for the latter’s war-weary population — already plagued by 12 years of unrelenting armed conflict — senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, calling on all parties to facilitate unimpeded access for urgent humanitarian relief.
The Security Council entity overseeing sanctions on Somalia recently met twice to consider issues including weapons smuggling between that country and Yemen and investigations into Al-Shabaab’s finances, its Chair reported today, also noting that the entity’s name had been changed to reflect its focus on that terrorist group.
Marking the twelfth anniversary of their 2011 revolt against Libya’s longstanding leader, Muammar Gadhafi, the country’s people remain frustrated by a lack of political progress and impatient for change, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, proposing a new mechanism to support the holding of crucial elections in 2023.
Ministers, senior officials and representatives from around the world called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and for peace talks to commence, decrying the crimes being committed against civilians and children, while warning against escalation of the conflict into a third world war, as the Security Council addressed for the second time in a week the impact of the conflict on both the region and the international community.
