Development

A new report by the United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stresses the need to prevent torture in places of detention in Iraq, including the Kurdistan region.  “No circumstances, however exceptional, justify torture,” said Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Special Representative in the country.

In Myanmar, at least 930 people, many of them women and children, have been killed at the hands of security forces since 1 February, while thousands more have been injured, the United Nations team there reports.  At least 3,000 remain under detention, as the protracted crisis impacts humanitarian access to people in need.

On 1 August, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Pablo Ruiz Hiebra of Spain as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Uruguay, with the host Government’s approval.

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message to Osun State University panel on “Social cohesion, equity and sustainability:  Time for unity in action”, in Nigeria on 14 July:

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message to the ministerial segment of the 2021 Global Education Meeting, held virtually on 29 July:

The intergovernmental Preparatory Committee for the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries concluded its second session today, after a week of negotiations on a new 10-year road map for sustainable development of these vulnerable States.

The second session of the intergovernmental Preparatory Committee for the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries opened at Headquarters today with delegates — mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 on the world’s poorest nations as they struggle to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals — aiming to finalize a draft programme of action for when the Conference takes place in Doha, Qatar, on 23 to 27 January 2022.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the 2021 high-level political forum on sustainable development’s first session of voluntary national review presentations, held today:

The World Meteorological Organization and its partners today released the first Hydromet Gap report, which states that an estimated 23,000 lives could be saved annually and at least $162 billion per year in potential benefits could be realized by improving weather forecasts, early warning systems, and climate information.

In Niger, 2.1 million children need humanitarian assistance, a third more than just a year ago, as the country continues to face conflict, displacement, food insecurity, floods and drought, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports.  The Agency is appealing for safe, sustained access to deliver aid.