The Security Council renewed the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) this morning, extending it until 31 March 2018 while reducing the operation’s troop ceiling by some 3,600 military personnel.
Amid hope that 2017 would bring noticeable improvements in the level of humanitarian access in Syria, the ability of the United Nations to reach millions in need was no better than this time in 2016, the Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council today.
The Commission on the Status of Women concluded its sixty-first session today, approving a sweeping set of Agreed Conclusions, which the top-ranking United Nations gender official said would help ensure that “work works for women”.
The Security Council deplored today the unlawful destruction of cultural heritage, religious sites and artefacts, and the smuggling of cultural property by terrorist groups during armed conflict, affirming that such attacks might constitute a war crime and must be brought to justice.
The last three months had seen a high rate of Israeli settlement plans and construction in the Occupied Palestinian Territory increased notably in the last three months, as did provocations from both sides, despite a call from the Security Council in late December 2016 to cease such activity, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process said this afternoon.
Nothing would be more noble than honouring victims of slavery — and recognizing the remarkable contributions of their descendants over the centuries — in the lands to which they were transported, the General Assembly heard today as it commemorated the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Unanimously adopting resolution 2346 (2017) today, the Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) until 16 June.
Expressing its deep alarm at the situation in South Sudan, the Security Council today renewed its condemnation of fighting in that country, stressing that there was no military solution to the conflict.
The Security Council decided this morning to extend until 24 April 2018 the mandate of the Panel of Experts for the committee monitoring sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and expressed its intent to take appropriate action on a further extension no later than 24 March 2018.
Equity, innovation and investment must steer the global drive to build climate-resilient societies and economies powered by clean engines of growth, speakers today told the General Assembly’s high-level Sustainable Development Goal action event.
