The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
Amid recent developments in the Persian Gulf and the wider Middle East, the Security Council discussed today how to ease tensions and contribute constructively to the resolution of conflicts in the region, as many speakers described the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the core of regional instability.
Delegates working to draft a new treaty on biodiversity in areas of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction today weighed issues related to building capacity and transferring marine technology, with speakers outlining a range of views on how — and on what basis — those types of support should be provided to States.
The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf held its fiftieth session at United Nations Headquarters from 1 July to 16 August 2019. The first plenary part of the session was held from 29 July to 2 August and the second one from 13 to 16 August. The remaining five weeks were devoted to the technical examination of submissions at the geographic information systems laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division.
The Security Council reaffirmed today — in observing the seventieth anniversary of their adoption — the fundamental importance of the 1949 Geneva Conventions for the protection of those affected by armed conflict, and recalled the obligation of States parties to ensure that they are respected in all circumstances.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Joanna Wronecka (Poland):
On 20 August 2019, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al‑Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities enacted the amendments specified with underline and strikethrough in the entry below on its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2368 (2017), and adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that in Libya at least 90 civilians have been killed and more than 200 injured in and around the southwest town of Murzug since fighting escalated earlier this month. The United Nations and aid agencies are responding with emergency supplies.
The fragmentation of Yemen is becoming a stronger and more pressing threat, the Security Council heard today, as the top United Nations official in the country cautioned that recent clashes risk further deepening the world’s leading humanitarian crisis and spreading violence to other southern governorates.
The Security Council adopted its annual report to the General Assembly today, covering the period from 1 January to 31 December 2018.
