Crime

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council debate on “Transnational organized crime, growing challenges and new threats”, in New York today:

Providing encouraging news about the decline in piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea, briefers from both the United Nations and regional organizations also stressed the need to address obstacles hindering the complete implementation of the interregional maritime security mechanism — the Yaoundé Architecture — as the  Security Council took up the matter of peace and security in Africa today.

Briefing the Security Council today on the significant progress and tangible results in its core judicial cases, the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals called for the international community’s continued support of its functions as it shifts from an operational to a residual court that safeguards the legacy of the Tribunals for war crimes committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, as well as the Mechanism itself.

​​​​​​​Although the Gulf of Guinea has witnessed a steady decline in incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea, more needs to be done to fully operationalize the maritime security architecture, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as speakers called for renewed action to tackle the root causes of piracy.

The United Nations Environment Programme today announced its 2022 Champions of the Earth, honouring a conservationist, an enterprise, an economist, a women’s rights activist and a wildlife biologist for their transformative action to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation.

​​​​​​​Nearly a dozen years after its creation by the Security Council, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals is ready to transition from a fully operational court to a truly residual institution, its President said today as she briefed the General Assembly on its work over the past year.

The United Nations is concerned about the safety of journalists in Myanmar. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as of this week, at least 170 journalists have been arrested since the military takeover of that country in February of 2021.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, from 13 to 17 December:

The United Nations Population Fund launched a $835 million appeal to reach 54 million women, girls and young people in 61 countries in 2022 — the agency’s largest ever humanitarian appeal — seeking integrated sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence services, as well as comprehensive support for survivors of violence.

The International Organization for Migration and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the today launched a $1.79 billion plan to help Venezuelan refugees and migrants and their host communities in 17 Latin American and Caribbean nations.  The number of Venezuelan refugees has surpassed 6 million.