Acting on the recommendation of its General Committee, the General Assembly adopted the work programme and agenda for its seventy-third session today, deciding to include the item “Situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine”, and for the second consecutive year, the item “The Responsibility to Protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”.

Against a “bleak” landscape in Yemen marred by a worsening humanitarian crisis, intensified fighting and attacks cutting off vital food and trade routes, the international community must take swift, concerted action to prevent a widespread famine, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs told the Security Council today.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and its partners have identified 155 children orphaned or left unaccompanied as a result of the latest Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the agency reports.  The outbreak has claimed 97 lives, according to the World Health Organization.

Paying homage to the late Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who passed away on 18 August, Member States, colleagues and family convened in the General Assembly today to remember him as a child of Africa, the first and only United Nations chief to rise through the ranks of the Secretariat, and a leader who steered the Organization during some of its most troubling times.

The Security Council today adopted a resolution aimed at enhancing the performance of peacekeeping personnel at all levels, both at Headquarters and in the field, stressing the need to improve posture, behaviour, leadership, initiative and accountability while effectively promoting international peace and security.

The Security Council expressed its outrage today over the fact that civilians continue to account for the vast majority of casualties in situations of armed conflict, and over its short- and long-term impact on them, from forced displacement to sexual and gender-based violence.

On 7 September 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013) concerning the Central African Republic held a briefing for all Member States on the midterm report of the Panel of Experts (document S/2018/729), during which the Central African Republic and regional States conveyed reactions to the report, as well as their views on national implementation of sanctions measures.

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

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

In a continuing effort to encourage wider participation in the multilateral treaty framework, the United Nations is hosting the annual Treaty Event at its Headquarters from 25 to 28 September.