Middle East

The first ever Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction concluded today with the adoption of a political declaration.

The World Food Programme will need $196 million in 2020 to assist the growing number of people leaving Venezuela, as well as Colombian returnees.  The challenge in Colombia and Ecuador is such that the Governments need support to assist with the influx of migrants.  Six out of 10 migrants do not know where they will find their next meal.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People today recommended four draft resolutions for adoption by the General Assembly, with Member States scheduled to debate and vote on these drafts on 3 December.

The United Nations Environment Programme and its partners released a report stating that countries plan to produce 120 per cent more fossil fuels by 2030 than can be burned under the 1.5°C warming limit, creating a “production gap” that makes climate goals more difficult to reach.  The report also details options for closing the gap.

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: