Widespread violence and a lack of humanitarian aid in the Central African Republic had put half the population at risk, but Government efforts to restore State authority and protect civilians were laying the groundwork for peace, the United Nations top official in the country told the Security Council today.
Despite pleas for an immediate, united call to action to stop the bloodshed and killing that was plunging parts of Syria into “hell on Earth”, the Security Council remained divided in how to effectively halt hostilities in eastern Ghouta, where thousands remained trapped amid ongoing bombardment.
The Special Committee on Decolonization opened its 2018 session today, electing by acclamation Walton Alfonso Webson (Antigua and Barbuda) as its Chair and agreeing to proceed with a visiting mission to New Caledonia in March, ahead of a referendum on self‑determination in that French‑administered territory.
The Disarmament Commission elected the Chair and five Vice-Chairs for its 2018 substantive session today and added two substantive items — focusing on recommendations for achieving nuclear disarmament and preventing an arms race in outer space — to the agenda of its new three-year cycle.
The Security Council must swiftly and effectively discharge all its power and responsibilities to overcome emerging threats and prevent massacres, genocide and the killing of civilians around the world and immediately in Syria, members heard today while they considered the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
Held up as a shining example of positive developments in the region, Iraq had succeeded in overcoming many obstacles, yet challenges remained to establish lasting stability, the Special Representative of the Secretary‑General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) told the Security Council today.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, briefing the Security Council this morning, outlined a new proposal to relaunch peace talks with Israel — including the rapid convening of an international summit on the matter, and the subsequent creation of a multilateral mechanism to guide the process — while also demanding that the United States reverse its decision to transfer its embassy to Jerusalem.
The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization opened its 2018 session today with delegates debating questions related to working methods, sanctions and the Committee’s role in the peaceful settlement of disputes.
With Syrian civilians being killed on a horrific scale and displaced in large numbers, the United Nations top representative for Syria warned the Security Council today of the grave risks posed by the recent string of dangerous and worrying escalations of violence in the country.
The political situation in Guinea-Bissau was evolving swiftly, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today, as he outlined the latest developments in that country, including those that had obstructed the full implementation of the Conakry Agreement.
