Nearly eight years after the Security Council first mandated the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme, the senior United Nations disarmament official today described only limited progress towards declaring that dossier closed, as delegates continued to voice divergent views about the neutrality of the global non-proliferation architecture itself.
In progress at UNHQ
Disarmament
The period following the start of Afghanistan’s peace negotiations in September 2020 has witnessed a sharp rise in the number of human rights defenders and media professionals killed in the country, a new report issued today by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says.
The United Nations Humanitarian Response Plan for Niger, launched on 5 February, seeks $523.2 million in 2021 to assist 2.1 million people. The combined effects of conflict, chronic food insecurity and health emergencies, including COVID-19, have severely impacted the economy, as well as access to basic services, such as health and education.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Robin Geiss of Germany as Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).
Following is the transcript of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ press conference, held in New York today:
Following is the text of UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ video message on the occasion of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, today:
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says the number of people displaced by violence in Africa’s Sahel region has reached 2 million. Officials warn that needs continue to surge, with multiple crises converging and the humanitarian response dangerously overstretched.
Pramila Patten, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, today expressed great concern about serious allegations of sexual violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, including a high number of alleged rapes in the capital. She called for zero tolerance of sexual violence among all warring parties.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Stockholm Initiative ministerial meeting in Amman today:
More than 100 people were killed and over 25 others injured following the 2 January attacks in Niger’s Tillaberi Region, according to local authorities. A United Nations inter-agency assessment mission arrived in the town of Ouallam yesterday, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs confirmed.