Middle East

The Government of Zambia, the United Nations and partners launched a response plan after the poorest rainfall in decades is expected to leave 2.4 million severely food insecure.  Meanwhile, humanitarian partners in Somalia and South Sudan are scaling up responses to severe seasonal flooding that affected 1 million.

The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process underlined today the urgent need for preventive diplomacy to ensure a fair and lasting peace as “new dangerous flashpoints emerge” in the region.

Relentless settlement building, threats to annex land and change the status quo of holy sites, along with worsening conditions in Gaza and persistent violence — including during civilian protests — all threaten to destroy the tenuous peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, delegates told the Security Council today.

An immersive show called “Voices for the Future: Antarctica While You Were Sleeping” will light up the United Nations General Assembly and Secretariat buildings from 7:30 p.m. today, ahead of the Climate Action Summit, setting the scene for the voices of six young climate advocates, including Greta Thunberg.

ANKARA, 12 September — The 2019 International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East concluded today with robust discussions on topics ranging from better ways to report on women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to social media’s role in supporting Palestinian activism — or spreading harmful misinformation — in a rapidly changing world.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message to the United Nations International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East, in Ankara today:

ANKARA, 11 September — The 2019 International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East opened here today, with journalists, academics, diplomats and senior Government officials examining the crucial role of media and online activists in amplifying the voices of everyday Palestinians more than 50 years into the occupation.

There is urgent need to safeguard the global consensus on the Palestinian question, the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine said today, expressing hope that forthcoming elections in both Israel and the United States will offer a path towards shifting the political dynamics around the two-State formula.

In Central America, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is launching five campaigns designed to underscore the risks of irregular migration and encourage informed decision-making among young migrants.  The campaigns will take place in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

Scattered violence, rising death and injury tolls, and the ongoing construction of settlements in occupied territory continue against a backdrop of stalled negotiations on how to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today.