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

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) dispatched two patrols to protect civilians after receiving two reports yesterday about the presence of members of the CODECO armed group in Blukwa, near Djugu, in Ituri Province, forcing the armed group to withdraw.

Fighting in Sudan continues to exact a heavy toll on civilians, and the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that many will die due to lack of essential services and disease outbreaks. Amidst critically low medical supplies and an increasing number of refugees, United Nations agencies are providing relief.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Clementine Nkweta-Salami of Cameroon as his Deputy Special Representative for Sudan with the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS).

The 2023 edition of the online Africa Dialogue Series begins today. Titled “Market and Scale: Unlocking Industrialization through Intra-African Trade”, the series will focus on how the African Continental Free-Trade Area could accelerate sustainable development.

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

With Syria at a potentially important juncture due to renewed diplomatic attention to the strife-torn country in the aftermath of devastating earthquakes, unlocking progress on a political solution requires multiple stakeholders who hold different keys to work together, the Organization’s senior official on the ground said today during his briefing to the Security Council.

The United Nations team in Botswana, following a polio outbreak, supported authorities with two immunization campaigns targeting children under the age of seven, with nearly 30 districts targeted with house-to-house visits and immunization efforts in health centres, and over 700,000 children reached.

The Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) today condemned the arson incident against the Saint Pantelija Orthodox Church in Prizren, which took place earlier this week. She noted that attacks against religious and cultural sites undermine interethnic and interreligious relations.

Volker Perthes, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan, is still in Khartoum and is continuing to engage with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and other key Member States on the ground in efforts to secure an immediate de-escalation and cessation of the fighting.