The Israeli attack on the Al Tabi'een school in Gaza City on 10 August underscored the desperate need to reach a ceasefire, free the hostages, and scale up humanitarian aid to Gaza, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as delegates voiced concern over rising regional tensions.
Africa has articulated a clear and compelling vision for its representation on the Security Council, that body heard today at a historic high-level debate on enhancing the continent’s effective participation in the United Nations organ tasked with maintenance of peace and security.
The Security Council today extended its authorization of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) by three days, until 15 August 2024, expressing grave concern that Al-Shabaab continues to pose a serious threat to the peace, security and stability of Somalia and the region.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council debate on “Maintenance of Peace and Security: Addressing the Historical Injustice and Enhancing Africa’s Effective Representation in the United Nations Security Council”, in New York today:
The complex terrorism landscape, with terrorist groups expanding in West Africa and the Sahel, and improving capabilities in Afghanistan, calls for robust counter-terrorism efforts, State cooperation and human-rights centered approaches, the Security Council heard today at a briefing on the Secretary-General’s biannual report on the threat posed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh).
The grave situation in Sudan offers fundamental lessons for drawdowns and terminations of United Nations peacekeeping missions in other transition contexts where women’s lives are at stake — such as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Somalia and Haiti — the Security Council heard today, as delegates underscored the need to integrate a gender perspective into all components of peace missions.
Halting famine in Sudan requires political will and leadership, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as speakers urged the warring parties to heed the international community’s repeated calls to stop fighting and avoid a further deterioration of the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
The Security Council today authorized the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) to provide operational, technical and logistical assistance to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the country.
The international community must tackle the climate of impunity that is fuelling mass violence in Sudan, the Security Council heard today as it considered the work of the International Criminal Court in investigating crimes committed in that country.
The Security Council’s programme for August features a first-ever discussion on enhancing Africa’s effective representation in the body, as well as an open debate on the New Agenda for Peace, its President for the month told a Headquarters press conference today.
