The recent escalation of violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip demonstrates the urgent need for political progress on the Middle East peace process, which, in turn, calls for maintaining the international consensus on basic principles, the Special Coordinator of that process told the Security Council today.
Any legally binding treaty to create an atomic‑bomb‑free region will fail unless every State joins, delegates from both possessor and non‑possessor nations said today during the general debate of the first ever Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, with Israel and the United States absent from the discussions.
Violence and insecurity have sparked an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso, Mali and western Niger, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says. The number of internally displaced persons exceeds 750,000 and 2.4 million need food assistance, the World Food Programme reports.
A report released today by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) points to historic gains overall for the world’s children, notably in under-5 mortality rates and primary education, since the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted in 1989. Yet many of the poorest children have yet to feel the impact.
Delegates extolled the long overdue urgency of creating a nuclear‑weapon‑free zone in the Middle East today to quell chronic regional tensions and build an inclusive foundation of peace and security, as the inaugural Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction opened at Headquarters today, without the participation of Israel and the United States.
Following are UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ remarks to the first session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, in New York today:
More than 210,000 people in Chad have been affected by widespread flooding following heavy rains over the past few months and need food, shelter and non-food items, according to the Chadian Red Cross. The United Nations and humanitarian partners plan to scale up the aid response, but have very limited resources.
The World Health Organization (WHO) launched a pilot programme to prequalify human insulin to increase treatment for diabetes in low- and middle-income countries — part of WHO’s efforts to address the growing diabetes burden. Some 65 million people with type 2 diabetes need insulin, but only half of them can access it, largely due to high prices.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that four incidents of unexploded ordnance injured eight children in Syria on 4 November. The United Nations called on all parties to the conflict to allow clearance and education activities, given that 11.5 million people live in affected areas.
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.
