SEVILLA, SPAIN (30 June) — World leaders today pledged a bold reform agenda to close the widening development finance gap and mobilize investment for sustainable growth, as they adopted the Sevilla Commitment at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.
The General Assembly today endorsed the political declaration of the United Nations Ocean Conference, which establishes multilateral ocean governance. It also adopted the $5.38 billion peacekeeping budget for the year starting 1 July.
“The devastating human toll is mounting” in Gaza, a senior United Nations official informed the Security Council today, while speakers for Israel and the State of Palestine traded barbs about issues ranging from Palestinian statehood to attacks on Palestinians seeking aid.
The warring parties in Sudan appear “unrelenting” in their resolve to pursue military objectives, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, warning of the growing risk of regional instability and spillover conflict.
Violence, humanitarian crises and instability driven by warring factions continue to roil the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, despite a peace agreement newly signed with Rwanda, senior United Nations briefers today warned the Security Council, urging “collective action” to end the conflict.
As it prepares to hold elections, the Central African Republic stands at a delicate juncture, and international support is key to consolidate its unique opportunity to strengthen democracy and national reconciliation, the Security Council heard today from the top UN peacekeeping official, as well as the country’s representative.
As the General Assembly marked the twentieth anniversary of the responsibility to protect, the UN Chief emphasized that the principle remains a moral imperative amid growing global turmoil, escalating identity-based violence, widespread breaches of international law and deepening impunity.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today approved a budget of nearly $5.4 billion to cover the financing needs of about a dozen peacekeeping missions, two service centres and support staff at Headquarters from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.
In the wake of unprecedented violence against children in 2024, the Security Council heard today that the world is failing to protect them from the horrors of war — and that urgent action is needed to correct this course — during a day-long debate on children and armed conflict.
Libya is yet again at a critical juncture, the UN’s top official for the country told the Security Council today, stressing international support is indispensable to Tripoli’s attempt to turn a fragile truce into a permanent ceasefire and form a government accountable to its citizens.
