In progress at UNHQ

Democratic Republic of the Congo


SC/16000

Amid rising regional tensions and the continuous advance of the 23 March Movement, or M23, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, senior UN officials told the Security Council today that the warring parties must return to the negotiating table and seriously work towards peace, while also welcoming regional efforts to resolve the conflict.

The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is sheltering and protecting some 1,400 people in its premises in Goma, North Kivu. In recent days, nearly 56,000 displaced persons have relocated to 34 newly created collective centres across Goma, mainly schools, churches and hospitals.

In Syria, over the past two days, 77 trucks carrying UN food, health supplies, blankets and other aid have crossed from Türkiye to Idlib through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, bring the number of trucks crossing from Türkiye to 200 this year — more than triple the amount compared to the same time last year.

In Gaza, the World Food Programme (WFP) says that 25 WFP-supported bakeries are now operating across the territory. WFP also notes that every week, dozens of kitchens are providing hundreds of thousands of hot meals to people across the Strip. In the north, WFP is working to further expand capacity.

The UN Human Rights Office today released a report which says that Bangladesh’s former Government, security and intelligence services, as well as violent elements associated with the Awami League party, systematically engaged in a range of serious human rights violations during last year’s student-led protests.

This morning in Geneva, the Human Rights Council held a special session on the situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and adopted a resolution establishing a fact-finding mission to examine violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law committed in North and South Kivu provinces.