Only by fulfilling the minimum conditions of the Conakry Agreement could Guinea-Bissau make progress towards breaking its years-long political crisis, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today, calling for better coordinated, sustained international involvement.
Noting that “little meaningful progress” had been made in implementing South Sudan’s landmark 2015 peace agreement, a senior United Nations peacekeeping official called on the warring parties today urgently to embark on peaceful negotiations and compromise to “bring the country back from the impending abyss”.
Against the backdrop of heightened tensions and multiple violent incidents in and around Jerusalem — as well as a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip — the top United Nations political affairs official today urged the parties to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict to recommit to ending the occupation of Palestinian lands and realizing a two-State solution.
On 18 August 2017, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida approved the addition of the entry specified below to its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2368 (2017) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
The “deplorable, avoidable and completely man-made catastrophe” in Yemen continued to worsen and ravage the lives of millions of people facing famine, the world’s largest ever single-year cholera outbreak, daily deprivation and injustice, the United Nations humanitarian affairs chief told the Security Council today.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta (Egypt):
On 4 August 2017, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo held an open briefing with interested Member States on the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The meeting was held in pursuance of paragraph 31 of resolution 2360 (2017), by which the Security Council encouraged the Chair to hold regular briefings for all interested Member States. As the first open briefing of the Committee since its establishment, the meeting marked the importance that the Committee holds to reducing the impact that the illegal exploitation of natural resources has on the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Tremendous challenges were facing the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the dynamics of the conflict ever-changing, an illicit trade in artisanal gold funding increasingly fragmented but heavily networked armed groups and human rights violations at significant levels, the Chair of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) told the Security Council today.
Welcoming Kosovo’s recent free and fair elections, the head of the United Nations mission there stressed today the need to form a new government without delay, resume dialogue with Serbia, and quell the rise in inflammatory nationalist rhetoric.
The Group of Five Sahel States (G5 Sahel) Joint Force to combat trans-border terrorism and organized crime could make a significant contribution to stabilizing the region by working in tandem with other ongoing initiatives, a senior United Nations peacekeeping official told the Security Council today.
