Democratic Republic of the Congo

The United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, established by the Human Rights Council, issued a report today in which it called for the country’s military leaders to be investigated for crimes committed in north Rakhine State, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

With fewer than four months remaining until critical elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Security Council members today urged that country’s Government to resolve outstanding disputes, build trust among the participating parties and avoid any actions that could jeopardize the nation’s first peaceful democratic transfer of power.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a joint United Nations‑Ministry of Health team is taking action to combat the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu Province, which has killed 61 people as of 21 August.  Since 8 August, more than 2,000 people have been vaccinated.

On 27 July 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo held a briefing for Member States on the final report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (S/2018/531).  The briefing 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.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that an estimated 200 to 250 civilian casualties have been reported in Afghanistan following recent fighting in Ghazni, which damaged the water system and electricity services.  In support of Government efforts, humanitarian partners are on standby to scale up activities once safe, secure access is ensured for aid workers and people in need.

The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is providing logistical support and the World Health Organization is sending medical supplies and expertise to the Ministry of Health and its partners to facilitate ground operations in response to the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu Province.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Karen Pierce (United Kingdom):

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is ramping up assistance to Ecuador, which declared a state of emergency in three provinces on Wednesday due to the influx of Venezuelans, some 547,000 of whom entered the country through the Colombian border.  About 30,000 Venezuelans entered at a rate exceeding 4,000 per day in the first week of August.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The United Nations refugee agency said today that more than 2,000 Somalis have returned home from Yemen since 2017, as part of an assistance programme carried out jointly with the International Organization for Migration and authorities in Yemen and Somalia.  Yemen currently hosts more than 270,000 refugees, the vast majority of them Somalis.