The heads of three United Nations entities and the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today urged States to support a new political declaration to protect civilians from explosive weapons in populated areas.
Finally achieving a Middle East unencumbered by any nuclear threat will go a long way to reducing heightened international risks in the region and beyond, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs affirmed today as she addressed the opening today of the third session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) today released a report showing that economic losses from drought, floods and landslides have rocketed in Asia. According to WMO, in 2021 alone, weather and water-related hazards caused total damage of $35.6 billion, affecting nearly 50 million people.
Syria must fully and urgently cooperate with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to close all outstanding issues regarding its chemical weapons declarations, the detection of a Schedule 2 chemical at the Barzah facilities of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre in November 2018, and the unauthorized movement of the two cylinders related to the chemical weapon incident in Douma in April 2018, the United Nations disarmament chief told the Security Council today.
The launch of an unprecedented number of missiles, including an intercontinental ballistic missile, on 2 and 3 November by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is reckless and a clear violation of Security Council resolutions, a United Nations senior political and peacebuilding official told the Security Council today, as members expressed alarm at the unabated flurry of missile activity from Pyongyang, as well as the Council’s continued inaction in face of such provocations.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
The twenty-first iteration of the Republic of Korea–United Nations Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Issues will take place in Seoul on 3 and 4 November.
In Chad, the United Nations and partners have assisted some 250,000 people affected by flooding; however, only one quarter of the $70 million needed to help 8000,000 people has been received. The water rise has stabilized in the capital but is forecasted to move upstream to the already crisis-impacted Lac region.
With concerns growing about the weaponization of the heavens, speakers renewed calls today for a multilaterally negotiated and legally binding instrument to prevent an arms race in outer space, during a joint ad hoc meeting of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) and Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization).
Speakers in the Security Council warned today against using disarmament and non-proliferation instruments to undermine multilateral cooperation, as the Russian Federation accused Ukraine and the United States of conducting biological weapons programmes and demanded an investigation.
