Iraq

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Mohamed al Hassan of Oman as his new Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

In Ukraine, attacks today and over the weekend continue to impact civilians in front-line areas. Authorities reported that, on 13 July, an attack on a railway in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine caused nearly 30 civilian casualties, including children.

A new report released today by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that almost 3 million refugees worldwide will need resettlement in 2025. This is mainly driven by the emergence of new conflicts and the impacts of climate change.

The United Nations team investigating atrocity crimes committed in Iraq by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) has laid the groundwork for future judicial proceedings, speakers told the Security Council today as they discussed ways to continue accountability efforts beyond the evidence-collecting body’s mandate expiry in September 2024.

The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) today for a final 19 month-period until 31 December 2025, after which UNAMI will cease all work and operations except with respect to any remaining liquidation of the Mission.

Amid calls from Security Council members today to draw down the United Nations mission in Iraq, the senior United Nations official in that country briefed the 15-member organ on both progress and ongoing challenges at many State levels, while emphasizing it is time to “turn the page on the darker images of Iraq’s past”.

In Haiti, the United Nations and its partners continue to support people affected and displaced by the ongoing violence. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), through its mobile clinics, and its partners have supported more than 20,000 displaced people in Port-au-Prince since the end of February.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Ana Peyró Llopis of Spain as Acting Special Adviser and Head of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (UNITAD). UNITAD was established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2379 (2017) to support domestic efforts to hold ISIL (Da’esh) accountable by collecting, preserving, and storing evidence in Iraq of acts that may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed by the terrorist group ISIL (Da’esh) in Iraq.

Restraint is required to create the environment Iraq needs to consolidate hard-won stability and realize sustainable progress, the senior United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today, amidst United States air strikes in Iraqi territory on 2 February and the ongoing conflict in nearby Gaza.

In Ethiopia, the World Food Programme (WFP) today said that it is scaling up its operations to deliver food assistance to up to 3 million people in the country in the coming weeks; 2 million of those are in Tigray.