Meetings Coverage

The Security Council condemned in the strongest terms today all instances of human trafficking in areas affected by armed conflict as it heard from more than 70 speakers during a day-long open debate on the subject.

Reiterating its request to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to complete its work and facilitate its closure as expeditiously as possible, the Security Council today unanimously adopted resolution 2329 (2016).

Differing opinions on social and cultural issues, along with wider agreement on disadvantaged peoples’ need for humanitarian assistance, animated the General Assembly today, as it adopted 50 resolutions and 8 decisions recommended by its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).

The Security Council today renewed the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for a period of six months until 30 June 2017, and requested that the Secretary-General ensure the Force had the required capacity and resources to fulfil its mandate in a safe and secure way. 

Alarmed by the continuing deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Syrian city of Aleppo, the Security Council demanded today that all parties ensure safe, immediate and unhindered access for the monitoring of evacuations from the city’s eastern districts and for the protection of civilians throughout the country.

The deteriorating situation in South Sudan, one of the world’s most urgent crises, was on the brink of a cataclysmic event, and the responsibility for that tragic state of affairs lay squarely with the leaders of that country, top United Nations officials warned the Security Council today.

While great progress had been made in Afghanistan, a better future for that country would not be possible without an inclusive peace process that involved Afghans from all strata of society, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) told the Security Council today.

Expressing deep concern at the security situation in South Sudan and the possibility of an outright ethnic war, the Security Council this afternoon extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to 15 December 2017, strengthening its mandate with additional powers to protect civilians while expressing its intention to consider sanctions against those whose actions undermined peace, stability and security in the country.

Adopting two texts without a vote this morning, the General Assembly committed to implementing the Secretary-General’s newly presented approach to cholera in Haiti, with speakers welcoming the “long-anticipated” move and its focus on the provision of material assistance to the victims of the nearly six-year-long outbreak.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this morning that today he was saddened that his final briefing to the Security Council on the question of Palestine brought no sense of optimism for the future.