With the obvious goal of undermining national identity and international law, terrorists — particularly in armed conflict situations — were not only destroying lives and property, but also historical sites and objects, the head of the United Nations Office of Counter‑Terrorism told the Security Council today.
Seventy years had passed since the unjust partition of Palestine and Israel’s subsequent illegal acquisition of its territory, the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine said today, during a meeting to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
Noting that today marked 70 years since the adoption of a United Nations resolution to partition Palestine, speakers stressed the need to capture momentum, redouble efforts and through dialogue and diplomacy achieve a two‑State solution, as the General Assembly began its annual debate on the Palestinian question.
Although the United Nations and its partners were continuing to deliver life‑saving aid despite constant challenges, some 13.1 million people in Syria were still in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the Under‑Secretary‑General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council today.
With violent extremists having suffered defeats in Syria and Iraq, the international community must step up cooperation to address the complex problem of foreign terrorist fighters returning home or travelling to other regions, the senior‑most United Nations official on that issue told the Security Council today.
Slavery and other grave human rights abuses affecting migrants and refugees travelling to North Africa and beyond constituted an abomination that could no longer be ignored, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told the Security Council today.
The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today approved 21 draft resolutions, including one stressing creditor and debtor nation responsibilities in avoiding the build-up of unsustainable debt to diminish the risk of crisis.
Despite assurances from the Government of South Sudan, violence and governmental restrictions continued to prevent peacekeepers and humanitarian workers from fulfilling their respective mandates to protect civilians and deliver aid to those badly in need of it, the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations told the Security Council today.
Further clarification was needed on resource cuts and staffing changes proposed for special political missions, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) heard today, as it took up the 2018 budget proposals for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Panel of Experts on Mali.
Pointing to signs of emerging common ground towards implementing the United Nations process for ending the conflict in Syria, the Secretary‑General’s Special Envoy for that country today called on the Security Council to support meaningful progress in the eighth round of talks, due to begin in Geneva on 28 November.
