Crime on the high seas is becoming increasingly sophisticated, endangering human life on land, the economic growth of entire regions and global safety, the head of the United Nations anti-crime agency warned the Security Council today, underscoring the vital role of international legal treaties in combating the scourge.
From illicit trafficking in the Sahel, to post-election violence in Côte d’Ivoire and innumerable abuses against civilians in the Central African Republic, mercenary activities in Africa are a serious concern and must command greater attention, senior officials told the Security Council today as they debated solutions to an often-invisible scourge.
The General Assembly and Economic and Social Council must find synergies in their response to common issues — human rights, peace and security, and development — and weed out overlap, the organs’ presidents emphasized today in the first-ever joint discussion on alignment of work.
The Security Council today decided to extend its sanctions regime on the Central African Republic — including an arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze — until 31 January 2020, while also extending the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the Central African Republic Sanctions Committee until 29 February 2020.
The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today concluded substantive work of its 2019 regular session with the presentation of the subsidiary body’s draft report, which will be finalized for adoption in February.
Harsh winter conditions and ongoing hostilities in some parts of Syria have resulted in the forced displacement of tens of thousands more civilians across the war-ravaged country, exacerbating the already dire humanitarian situation, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator warned during his briefing to the Security Council today.
The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until 31 July 2019 today, unanimously adopting resolution 2453 (2019).
On the seventh day of its 2019 regular session, the Committee on Non‑Governmental Organizations today took note of 114 new and deferred quadrennial reports from various organizations, while postponing action on several others after delegates requested additional information from the respective applicants.
Convening its first 2019 meeting, the Peacebuilding Commission today elected Guillermo Fernández de Soto Valderrama (Colombia) as Chair of its thirteenth session, while also adopting a work plan aimed at expanding the Commission’s work and building synergies both within and beyond the United Nations system.
On the sixth day of its 2019 regular session, the Committee on Non‑Governmental Organizations today postponed action on requests from 3 organizations for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and took note of 287 quadrennial reports from various non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
