Without timely help from local police officers, Purity Soinato Oiyie, a 22‑year-old Maasai woman from Kenya, would have been genitally circumcised as a child then married off to a 70-year-old man, the Commission on the Status of Women heard today at the opening of its sixty-second session.
Despite the demands of the Security Council’s resolution for a ceasefire in Syria, humanitarian convoys had not been able to enter eastern Ghouta without impediment, members heard today as the Secretary‑General provided an update on the situation.
Concluding its work today, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations approved the draft report of its 2018 session (document A/AC.121/2018/L.3).
The crisis in Ukraine was putting shared values to the test, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Chairperson-in-Office told the Security Council today, while stressing that further dialogue and political will were needed to solve the situation.
The Security Council today extended for another year the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) ahead of a debate during which speakers — on International Women’s Day — placed women’s vital role front and centre in achieving a sustainable peace and security after years of conflict.
The General Assembly, welcoming progress made by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme to break links between the diamond trade and conflict, today adopted a consensus resolution aimed at intensifying that work and aligning it with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Discussing the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today, Security Council members underscored the importance of the holding of fair and credible elections, as the electoral process in that country continued amid continued increasing violence and unrest.
Speakers expressed broad support today for the Secretary‑General’s proposals to reform the way the United Nations was helping Member States achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, while emphasizing national ownership of development strategies, as the Economic and Social Council wrapped up its three‑day 2018 operational activities segment.
Despite the Security Council’s united call just days ago for a ceasefire in Syria, deadly fighting continued, throwing the body’s credibility into question, members heard today as United Nations political and humanitarian chiefs provided updates on the dismal situation on the ground.
The Security Council today decided to extend until 28 February 2019 the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea‑Bissau (UNIOGBIS), also deciding to review the sanctions imposed on that country and pledging to take additional measures if its crisis continued to worsen.
