At its 73rd meeting, on 7 August 2018, the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the sixth report of the Secretary‑General on children and armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (document S/2018/502) agreed to convey the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group:
While upcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have generated “great expectations” for shoring up the county’s stability, the electoral process continues to suffer from distrust between the political opposition and the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Secretary‑General’s Special Representative in that country told the Security Council today.
The United Nations country team in El Salvador will meet tomorrow to develop a plan of action following the Government’s declaration of a red alert emergency due to the severe drought affecting some 77,000 farmers growing corn, one of the country’s main staple foods. Eastern El Salvador has reported 33 consecutive days without rain, and record temperatures reaching 41°C.
Increasing violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to negatively affect the humanitarian situation there, forcing people to flee their homes, United Nations humanitarian affairs staff say. Violence between Hema herders and Lendu farmers in Ituri has displaced some 420,000 people in 2018.
The text of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was finalized on 13 July, marking the first time that Member States have come together to negotiate an agreement covering all dimensions of global migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner.
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has temporarily deployed 40 peacekeepers to Bijombo, South Kivu, where violent clashes between local armed groups have reportedly destroyed entire villages, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee to such areas as Uvira.
Today is the International Day of the Tropics. As you know, the Tropics are the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, and host approximately 80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity and much of its language and cultural diversity.
The Security Council today extended its arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban on the Democratic Republic of the Congo until 1 July 2019 and the mandate of the Expert Group assisting the Sanctions Committee through 1 August 2019.
A Bangladeshi peacekeeper from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan was killed today during an attack on a convoy delivering humanitarian aid to vulnerable civilians in Central Equatoria Province. The Nepalese peacekeepers immediately returned fire and the assailants retreated into the forest.
On 4 June 2018, the Group of Experts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo conveyed its final report to the President of the Security Council (document S/2018/531).
