Nigeria

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Karel Jan Gustaaf van Oosterom (Netherlands):

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the arrival of migrants in Italy — the most active route for those leaving North Africa for Europe — hit a five-year low:  5,247 for the first two months of 2018, versus some 13,000 for the same period last year.  IOM attributed the drop, in part, to voluntary humanitarian returns from detention centres in Libya.

The United Nations Children’s Fund expressed deep sadness over the killing of its colleague, along with five other education workers, on 25 February in the north-western region of the Central African Republic, near Markounda, a remote area close to the Chadian border.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Food and Agriculture Organization launched a $1.06 billion appeal to help vulnerable communities in 26 countries fight hunger, seeking to reach 30 million people who rely on agriculture and have been affected by climate-related shocks, notably in Bangladesh, Somalia and Yemen.

Temperatures plummeted across Ukraine, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported, saying the distribution of aid, including clothing, fuel and cash to the most vulnerable people impacted by the conflict in eastern Ukraine.  The aid will reach some 15,300 people, mainly single parents, elderly, families with many children and people with disabilities or chronic illnesses.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) reported that a patrol hit a suspected improvised explosive device in Kidal city, wounding one peacekeeper on 18 December.  The incident follows four separate attacks against peacekeeping personnel and premises in Kidal on 15 December.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today convicted Ratko Mladiæ on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, giving him a life sentence.  Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said the judgment was a milestone in the Tribunal’s history and international criminal justice.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

At its 68^th meeting, on 15 November 2017, the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the first report of the Secretary‑General on children and armed conflict in Nigeria (document S/2017/304), covering the period from January 2013 to December 2016, agreed to address the following messages through a public statement issued by the Chair of the Working Group.