In progress at UNHQ

Middle East


The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned today that a extraordinary humanitarian disaster  is about to hit south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, as the Province of Tanganyika plunges further into violence, triggering spiralling displacement and human rights abuses.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the United Nations human rights office released their annual report on the impact of armed conflict on civilians, finding that 10,453 civilians had lost their lives or suffered injuries in 2017.  While down 9 per cent from 2016, casualties were caused mainly by suicide bombings.

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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Jamie McGoldrick of Ireland as Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  He succeeds Robert Piper of Australia, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his commitment and dedicated service.

Emergency fuel for critical facilities in Gaza will become exhausted within 10 days, the acting United Nations Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory warned today.  Currently, the nearly 2 million Palestinian residents there receive electricity for no more than eight hours a day.

United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock and United Nations Development Programme Head Achim Steiner are in Somalia to bring attention to the recently launched $1.5 billion aid appeal to avert famine and build resilience in the country.  Some 5.4 million people need life-saving humanitarian assistance.

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Twenty-five years after the historic Oslo Accords, the United Nations had fallen into a pattern of managing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rather than resolving it, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today, underscoring the Organization’s responsibility to help the sides return to negotiations and quickly show results.