As violations against children in armed conflict reached record levels in 2025, senior United Nations officials today warned the Security Council of “a deeply troubling shift” in which Government forces have become the main perpetrators of such abuse.
As speakers stressed the need to go beyond offering condolences, the Security Council today adopted a resolution to facilitate the identification, investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of attacks against United Nations personnel serving in peacekeeping operations.
Briefed on political and security progress in the Central African Republic, where elections are being conducted and State authority extended, the Security Council today considered the future of United Nations engagement with the country amid warnings that financial considerations should not imperil these gains.
As civilians continue to pay the high cost of war, concerted diplomatic efforts towards a full ceasefire between Ukraine and the Russian Federation must resume now, the Security Council heard today from one of the United Nations’ senior political officers.
Eighteen months after the fall of its long-standing dictatorship, Syria’s strides towards stability and the fragility of that progress now sit “side by side”, the UN’s Deputy Special Envoy told the Security Council today, calling for continued support as the country navigates a critical period in its transition.
While a limited ceasefire has improved life in Gaza somewhat, millions of its residents still face tremendous daily difficulties, the Security Council heard today, as speakers underscored the need to provide immediate humanitarian help to a population that can ill afford to wait.
As Libya’s political process shows renewed but fragile momentum, the Security Council today pressed national stakeholders to move beyond consultations and deliver concrete progress on elections, institutional unification, security stabilization and economic reform.
As conflicts multiply and women remain largely absent from peace negotiations, senior United Nations officials, civil society and Member States today urged the Security Council to move beyond rhetoric and make women’s participation in peace processes funded and non-negotiable, warning that peace built without women is “only a pause in violence”.
Several delegates and Western Sahara petitioners today urged the Special Committee on Decolonization to liberate the “last colony in Africa” through a self-determination referendum that includes independence as an option, while other speakers supported Morocco’s autonomy proposal as the most realistic solution for resolving the longstanding question.
Urging parties in Yemen to build on fresh momentum generated by the United States-Iran peace deal and the release of 1,600 prisoners held over two years of Yemen’s protracted civil war, speakers in the Security Council today called on the Aden-based Government and Sana’a-based Houthis to work towards an inclusive political settlement.
