After the Russian Federation vetoed a draft Security Council resolution on 8 July which would have injected certainty and predictability into the humanitarian response in Syria, the General Assembly today held a debate on the issue, with delegates expressing diverging views on the formula for — and merits of — renewing aid deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing in the country’s north-west.
The Economic and Social Council resumed its two-day Management Segment today to consider the reports of 11 of its subsidiary bodies and to adopt a variety of decisions and resolutions before it.
International efforts to clarify Syria’s declarations on its chemical weapons programme still have not progressed, the United Nations disarmament chief told the Security Council today, as some delegates sparred over the contents of the fact-finding mission’s latest report.
In a harrowing account of his own abduction in South Sudan, where an armed group had tortured him and had killed his father in front of his eyes, the founder of the Similar Ground organization called on the Security Council today to enforce the myriad resolutions it has passed to secure the safety of children around the world who are at the mercy of wars and conflicts they did not start nor should ever be forced to endure.
Against the backdrop of a highly uncertain global outlook, with rising food and fuel prices blunting efforts to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Economic and Social Council formally adopted the ministerial declaration of its high-level political forum on sustainable development today, reaffirming that poverty eradication is an “indispensable requirement” for building resilient societies.
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) until 15 July 2023, deciding that its police and corrections unit will include up to 42 civilian and seconded personnel serving as advisers, and that its human rights unit will include dedicated capacity to address sexual and gender-based violence.
The high-level political forum on sustainable development, convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, concluded today, approving a ministerial declaration, that recognizes the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as the blueprint for an inclusive, sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerating the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development, leaving no one behind.
Encouraged by the recent peaceful presidential elections and the release of the compelling, final report of Colombia’s Truth Commission, the top United Nations official in that country told the Security Council today he is confident that Colombia is moving towards a vibrant, diverse democracy..
The perspectives of Africa, Asia-Pacific, Western Asia, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean are critical in the collective push to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and bring countries “back on track” in efforts to measurably improve well-being across their societies by 2030, speakers in the high-level political forum on sustainable development stressed today, as they discussed recommendations emerging from a series of regional dialogues to that end.
Invest in people, Secretary-General António Guterres told delegates and leaders at the Economic and Social Council today, underscoring the importance of universal social protection as well as equitable and high-quality education.
