Mali

The High Commissioner for Human Rights is extremely worried by reports suggesting the targeting of civilians over the past two weeks amid intense fighting between warring parties in Al Mokha in Taizz Governorate in Yemen.  The United Nations Refugee Agency has mobilized assessment teams and begun delivering emergency aid.

The Secretary-General deeply regrets the adoption of the so-called “Regularisation bill” on 6 February.  This bill will have far-reaching legal consequences for Israel.  The Secretary-General insists on the need to avoid actions that would derail the two-State solution.

In a video message to the opening of the 2017 session of the Conference on Disarmament, the Secretary-General described disarmament as an integral element of a peaceful and prosperous world, spotlighting its potentially important role in ending existing conflicts and preventing the outbreak of new strife.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Olof Skoog (Sweden):

Three months after Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti, the World Food Programme (WFP) says that the number of people facing hunger and food insecurity in the country’s most affected areas has declined steadily — from approximately 1 million to 400,000.

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

A car bomb that killed more than 50 people at a military base in Gao this morning was a stark reminder of the multiple obstacles hobbling Mali’s ongoing peace process, the head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council today.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Olof Skoog (Sweden):

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi expressed shock today at yesterday’s bombing of a site for internally displaced people in north-east Nigeria that left dozens of people dead.  A United Nations Humanitarian Air Service helicopter airlifted eight injured Nigeria Red Cross workers.

The Security Council today, reiterating its concern about the fragile security situation in the north of Mali, called for full respect of the ceasefire agreement of 23 May, while welcoming adoption of a road map committing the Government and armed groups of the Ouagadougou accord to hold formal peace talks.