Disarmament

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

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

Against the backdrop of escalating violence in the Middle East, the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs today warned of a dangerous expansion of the conflict in the wider region during the opening of the fourth session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction.

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

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has made a major push to engage and empower young people, recognizing their participation as essential for identifying new solutions that will secure the breakthroughs that our world urgently needs.

In Armenia, the UN, led by acting Resident Coordinator Natia Natsvlishvili, is boosting support to national authorities to address the needs of over 100,000 refugees, who recently arrived. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continues to distribute locally procured core relief items requested by local municipalities.

Following is the joint appeal made today by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, and the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, calling on political leaders to urgently establish new international rules on autonomous weapon systems, to protect humanity, issued today:

With the catastrophic potential inherent in nuclear weapons hanging over the fate of humankind, the only way to prevent the use of such arsenals — and the Armageddon such an act would unleash — is to completely eliminate them, speakers said today during the General Assembly’s annual high-level commemoration of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the General Assembly on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, in New York today:

Cuts in donor funding have forced the World Food Programme (WFP) to reduce its life-saving assistance for the entire Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar, where each person receives just $8 per month. WFP needs another $175 million to provide the Rohingya with full rations through December 2024.