Amid a situation in a downward spiral, marked by an increase in violence across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, determined actions by both parties are urgently needed to reverse negative trends on the ground, the senior United Nations official for the Middle East peace process told the Security Council today, cautioning delegates that a failure to address the root causes of the escalation will only worsen an already explosive situation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today released a report showing that an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with tuberculosis in 2021, an increase of 4.5 per cent from 2020. According to the report, 1.6 million people died from tuberculosis in 2021, including 187,000 HIV-positive people.
A report by the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change shows that countries are bending the curve of global greenhouse gas emissions downward, but the report underscores that these efforts remain insufficient to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C by the end of the century.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Michel Xavier Biang (Gabon):
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Nations peacekeepers and the Congolese armed forces are regularly patrolling along national route 72 in Ituri’s Djugu territory. Reassured by the presence of national security forces and the United Nations, some displaced persons are also returning to their communities.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
Welcoming statements by the leaders of Israel and the State of Palestine during the seventy-seventh General Assembly session as a positive sign toward resuming the peace process, speakers in the Security Council today called for those words to be turned into action and progress be delivered on a two-State solution, especially in light continuing settlement activity and violence against civilians.
The United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide welcomed the opening of the trial against Félicien Kabuga before the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague. Mr. Kabuga, among other offenses, is charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, committed in Rwanda in 1994.
Speakers today urged the Security Council to consider the long-term effects of allowing the status quo to remain in the Occupied Palestinian Territory following a three-day escalation in violence earlier this month, as some members welcomed economic measures to allay the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip while others stressed that this relief is no substitute for a genuine political horizon.
In Afghanistan, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is implementing a programme to protect rural livelihoods amid continuing drought and extreme economic crisis and will support more than 9 million people across 34 provinces in 2022.
