Delegates today welcomed milestones reached by a United Nations war crime court in completing its judicial phase for atrocities committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and called for renewed support for its duties related to accountability and justice, as the Security Council heard briefings from top officials of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), ahead of a resolution to renew its mandate later in June.
While renewed cooperation between Syrian authorities and the Declaration Assessment Team of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has borne positive results, the United Nations’ disarmament chief told the Security Council today that further cooperation is needed, as Council members debated whether the organ should continue to meet on this file despite slow progress in its resolution.
After 247 days of war in Gaza, the Security Council today adopted by 14 votes in favour — with the Russian Federation abstaining — a resolution proposing a comprehensive three-phase ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, urging both Israel and Hamas to implement it fully and without delay and condition.
Extending the mandates of the Ombudsperson and the Monitoring Team of the sanctions regime against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as Da’esh, and Al-Qaida, the Security Council today also updated the criteria for designating individuals, groups and entities on the regime’s list to include the committing of acts of sexual and gender-based violence.
Briefing the Security Council on the situation in Central Africa, a senior United Nations official said that the region has seen positive developments over the past six months, as Council members commended political progress in some countries of that region, while also recognizing their substantive political, economic and social challenges.
Underlining the need to raise awareness of the value of diversity of civilizations and promote dialogue, mutual respect, tolerance and global solidarity, the General Assembly today adopted by consensus a resolution declaring 10 June the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations.
Ahead of an international summit for peace in Ukraine to be held in Switzerland on 15-16 June, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today that May saw the highest number of civilian casualties in a single month since June 2023 as she detailed the humanitarian situation amidst ongoing offensives in the country’s north-east.
The Economic and Social Council concluded its 2024 management segment this morning with a discussion to integrate key messages from its subsidiary bodies and the UN system on the Council’s main theme, develop action-oriented recommendations for follow-up and feed into the high-level political forum on sustainable development (as mandated by GA resolution 75/290 A).
In a series of elections today, delegates in the General Assembly chose its President for the seventy-ninth session, the Bureaus of the six Main Committees, as well the five non-permanent members of the Security Council for the next two-year term.
The United Nations team investigating atrocity crimes committed in Iraq by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) has laid the groundwork for future judicial proceedings, speakers told the Security Council today as they discussed ways to continue accountability efforts beyond the evidence-collecting body’s mandate expiry in September 2024.
