Disarmament

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that it is providing tents, water, tanks and toilets to the more than 3,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo that arrived in north-western Uganda last week during a temporary opening of two border crossing points.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is facing many challenges, including the United States withdrawal from the 2015 landmark agreement and possible Iranian breaches of the arms transfer provisions of Security Council resolution 2231 (2015), but it nevertheless remains the best way to ensure that Tehran’s nuclear programme is peaceful, Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told a 30 June videoconference meeting of the 15-member organ.

An estimated 4.1 million girls will be subjected to female genital mutilation this year and if programmes and services stay shut for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that figure will reach 6.1 million by 2030, according to the United Nations Population Fund’s “State of World Population 2020” report issued today.

On 29 April 2020, Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the United Nations and Chair of the 1540 Committee, on behalf of the Committee, provided a briefing to the Security Council about resolution 1540 (2004) and the related Comprehensive Review currently under way (document S/2020/347).

The following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the forty-fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the Biological Weapons Convention:

The Secretary-General addressed the Group of 20 virtual summit on the COVID-19 pandemic, stressing that transmission of the virus must be suppressed as quickly as possible through a coordinated response mechanism guided by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees airlifted emergency relief items to Chad on 19 March, responding to the humanitarian needs of some 10,000 Sudanese refugees.  Clashes in Sudan’s West Darfur region since late 2019 have forced more than 16,000 people, mostly women and children, to cross the border into Chad.

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

The Disarmament Commission deferred the start of its 2020 organizational session today, for the second time in as many weeks, reflecting a deepening impasse over the Host Country’s non-issuance of visas to some delegates.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve (Belgium):